Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - An Egyptian driving a garbage truck loaded with explosives and ISIS papers rammed into a car carrying five US soldiers in Kuwait on Saturday, injuring only himself in the attack, authorities said.

The attempted attack is the first in the stalwart US ally to target American troops in the tiny, oil-rich emirate.

The state-run Kuwait News Agency identified the attacker as Ibrahim Sulaiman, born in 1988.

KUNA said the five soldiers were not injured. It said Sulaiman had multiple fractures and injuries.

It was not immediately clear if the Egyptian had a lawyer. The KUNA report did not offer a location for the failed attack.

American forces and others have troops stationed at Kuwait's Camp Arifjan. U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US Embassy in Kuwait City had no immediate comment.

Kuwait is a solid US ally following the 1991 American-led Gulf War that ended the Iraqi occupation there.

The announcement comes ahead of the Shiite commemoration of Ashoura, which marks the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century. Shiites and Sunni Muslims largely live in peace in tiny Kuwait.

Kuwaiti police have promised increased security ahead of Ashoura. Two Iranians were arrested in recent days for taking "suspicious" photographs ahead of the commemoration.

An ISIS-claimed suicide bombing in 2015 targeting a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City killed 27 people and wounded scores. The extremist group, which holds territory in both Iraq and Syria, did not immediately claim the failed assault.

*AP