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Three dead in Kuwaiti gunfight with militants


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(CNN) -- A gun battle between Kuwaiti security forces and Islamic militants left three people dead Sunday in Kuwait City, an Interior Ministry official said.

Authorities -- acting on a tip -- raided a house in the eastern neighborhood of Salmiyah sparking the gunfight.

The battle killed a security force member, a militant and a Bahraini national who was not considered to be a suspect, the official said. Four other security forces and a militant were wounded.

The Bahraini national who was killed lived in the home, and the militants were using it as a safe house, said the security sources. Another militant was captured in a search of the area following the gun battle.

Sunday's battle is the third Kuwaiti incident this month in which police and Islamic militants exchanged gunfire, authorities said.

The gunfight also came a day after the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City issued a warning to Americans there that "the possibility exists of further violent clashes" as police search for suspects in the two earlier shootouts.

The clashes, January 10 and 15, also resulted in fatalities, according to the warning, which was posted on the Embassy Web site.

Terrorists may be targeting Westerners in Kuwait -- the Web site said -- and increased security at U.S. facilities may prompt terrorists to "seek softer targets such as public transportation, and public areas where people congregate."

Kuwait has been a U.S. ally since an American-led coalition liberated it from occupying Iraqi forces in 1991. U.S. troops used Kuwait as a staging area to launch the Iraq war in 2003.

CNN's Caroline Faraj and Kianne Sadeq contributed to this report.


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