Kuwait restricts access to training area

KUWAIT -- Kuwait will restrict access to a vast area where its military forces conduct maneuvers with western troops -- mostly Americans, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The measure comes after two attacks on U.S. military personnel earlier this month in Kuwait, a major U.S. ally in the Gulf. In the first attack on Oct. 8, a Marine was killed and another wounded.

The ban on people visiting the training area in northwest Kuwait is a "precautionary measure" aimed at safeguarding lives, the ministry's spokesman, Brig. Ahmed al-Rahmani, told the official Kuwait News Agency.

He said the area was popular with campers, bird hunters and sheep herders. The war games are conducted with live ammunition.

The ban is expected to take effect Nov. 2, al-Rahmani said.

Al-Rahmani, who spoke only to Kuwaiti media, said the restricted area was "very large and represented a quarter of the area of the state of Kuwait."

American and Kuwaiti officials have re-examined security measures after the attacks this month.

The first attack occurred on the island of Failaka. The two Kuwaiti attackers, both extremist Muslims who had trained in Afghanistan, were shot dead by other Marines.

In the second incident, the U.S. military reported shots were fired at its soldiers from two civilian vehicles near the northwestern training area on Oct. 14. Nobody was wounded and U.S. troops did not return fire.