Shots fired at U.S. Embassy amid tensions

When gunmen opened fire on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara just before sunrise Monday, they struck a fortified guard booth but caused no injuries or other harm.

The shooting in the Turkish capital, however, posed a different kind of danger: threatening to aggravate a bitter feud between Turkey and the United States that has raged for weeks.

The dispute centers on Turkey’s refusal to release a detained American pastor and is the worst between the two NATO allies in decades. It has included tit-for-tat economic sanctions and recriminations between President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Monday, though, both sides appeared determined to prevent their feud from spiraling further. Turkish officials quickly condemned the shooting, with Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Erdogan, writing on Twitter that the attack was “an open attempt to create chaos.” Foreign missions, he added, were “under the protection of the law.”

By Monday evening, Turkish authorities had announced the arrests of two suspects. A U.S. Embassy statement praised the “fast and professional” action of the Turkish government and police as well as “their support and protection,” in a rare moment of solidarity between two countries whose vitriolic arguments have reverberated around the globe. E. Chandrasekharan, Kerala’s revenue minister said by phone. “About 95 percent of people affected have been rescued and put up in relief camps. We are hoping to reach out to every one by end of day today.”

The death toll has climbed to 341 since the monsoon started in June, including 191 since Aug. 8, the state’s disaster management control room said by phone, while the number of evacuees at relief camps is growing. As many as 928,000 people have taken shelter at 3,700 camps. Kerala received 164 percent more than its normal rainfall in the first 19 days of this month.

Chandrasekharan said only a small number of people remain stranded in some pockets that have so far been inaccessible to rescue crews.