Police battle Islamic militants in Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syrian anti-terrorism police fought Islamic militants near the Defense Ministry on Friday in a gunbattle that killed five people and wounded four, the government said.

The shootout came after the police heard an "extremist terrorist unit" was in the area and engaged it, the Interior Ministry said. One police officer was killed and two were wounded, it said.

The director-general of state broadcasting, Fayez Sayegh, said police killed four militants and detained six, two of them wounded.

The Interior Ministry said the captured militants were being interrogated about their motives.

Near Omayyad Square

The gunbattle was near Omayyad Square, which is home to the Defense Ministry, the headquarters of state radio and television, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Customs Department.

Security forces have had occasional shootouts with Islamic militants in Damascus before, but Friday was the first time that such a fight took place so close to the heart of government.

The government did not name the militant group or give their suspected motives. But the official Syrian Arab News Agency said all 10 militants were members of a "takfiri" group.

"Takfiri" is a Sunni Muslim extremist ideology, followed by groups such as al-Qaida, which takes the view: "You are either with us or against us."

Sayegh said all the militants were Syrians.

The official news agency said police seized 10 automatic rifles that were made in the United States and homemade bombs. It said the weapons had been supplied by "a neighboring country to carry out sabotage attacks against vital targets."

The country was not identified, but in the past Syria has alleged that weapons were coming into the country from Lebanon.

Relations with Lebanon have been increasingly strained since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last year and the subsequent withdrawal of thousands of Syrian troops.

Under pressure

Syria has been under pressure to root out suspected militants amid U.S. claims that the extremists use Syrian territory to plan attacks in Israel and Iraq.

In previous clashes, security forces have confronted Islamic militants from the group known as "Jund al-Sham," or Soldiers of Syria. It was formed in Afghanistan by Syrian, Palestinian and Jordanian militants with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

In March, Syrian security forces killed a top Jund al-Sham militant, Mohammed Ali Nasif, and his bodyguard in a clash northwest of Damascus.

In December, Syrian anti-terrorist forces clashed with Islamic militants in Idlib, 200 miles north of Damascus, killing five of them. Three others, wearing explosives' belts, blew themselves up.

Also in December, Syria announced it had uncovered a bomb-making factory in the northern city of Aleppo, discovering plans for attacks on public buildings and security headquarters in Syria.