Special to WorldTribune.com from

CAIRO — The U.S. embassy in Yemen has come under rocket fire from Al Qaida.

A rocket said to be fired by Al Qaida’s Ansar Al Sharia landed some 200 meters from the U.S. embassy in Sanaa.

Officials said the M-72 light anti-tank rocket exploded on Sept. 27 next to a checkpoint manned by Yemeni special forces assigned to protect the embassy.

“Ansar Al Sharia have targeted the U.S. embassy in Sanaa with a LAW rocket,” Ansar said.

The U.S. embassy denied that it was the target of the Ansar attack. A statement said the embassy was “unaffected” by the rocket strike.

This marked the latest in a series of attacks on the U.S. embassy in Yemen. In May 2014, unidentified gunmen tried to abduct two U.S. security officers in Sanaa, which led to the closure of the complex for nearly five weeks.

The Ansar attack came amid the evacuation of embassy staffers. The State Department, reporting a “high security threat level,” urged Americans to leave Yemen immediately.

“On September 24, 2014, the Department of State ordered a reduction of U.S. government personnel from Yemen out of an abundance of caution due to the continued civil unrest and the potential for military escalation,” the State Department said. “The embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in an emergency and provide routine consular services may be limited.”

  Ansar Al Sharia, M-72 light anti-tank rocket, Sanaa, U.S. embassy in Yemen denies it was targeted by Al Qaida during evacuation