Militants Kill Kuwaiti Officer in Shootout

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Militants killed a Kuwaiti security officer and wounded three other commandos Sunday during a shootout in this pro-U.S. Gulf state which is facing an outbreak of al Qaeda-linked violence.
Police said the men, all with the special forces, were shot during a raid on suspected militant hideouts in the capital's mainly residential Salmiya district. Witnesses said a civilian was also killed in the firefight.
The raid, which targeted two buildings in Salmiya, came a day after the government of this oil-rich state and the U.S. embassy warned more militant attacks were possible.
The British and French embassy had also warned their citizens to be vigilant. Two Kuwaiti security officers and two gunmen were killed in clashes between police and militants earlier this month.
"We are searching for an armed group that is wanted by state security," a security official told Reuters.
Witnesses said police had cordoned off a block in Salmiya and were firing machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades at the gunmen. A helicopter also hovered overhead.
A Syrian woman who works in one of the targeted buildings told Reuters the gunmen had knocked on her door before fleeing from their police pursuit.
"I locked the door and didn't let them in. I then smelled gunpowder and heard blasts. Bullets have hit the windows in my office," she said, speaking by cell phone from the building.
Kuwait is questioning several suspected militants rounded up after this month's shootouts and some officials believe sympathizers of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network were behind the attacks.
Neighboring Saudi Arabia has been racked since 2003 by a wave of suicide bombings and shootings which al Qaeda says is aimed at driving "infidel" foreigners from the birthplace of Islam and toppling the pro-U.S. Saudi monarchy. Two Americans were killed and several wounded in a string of attacks in 2002 and 2003 in U.S.-allied Kuwait, which was the launch pad of the war on Iraq and where about 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed. (Additional reporting by Oussama Mohammed and Noora Kassem)