Police in Montenegro have launched an investigation into the motives behind a possible suicide attack on the United States embassy in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital.

The attack, which left nobody injured, occurred just after midnight on Thursday morning. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a man throw an object, believed to be a hand-grenade, over the wall of the embassy that then exploded. The man was then killed by a second explosive device.

Citing police sources, the Montenegrin press identified the suspected attacker as Dalibor Jaukovic, a 43-year-old Podgorica resident and a former soldier. Jaukovic’s Facebook profile revealed that in 1999 he was decorated by Slobodan Milosevic for “outstanding dedication to his duties in the defence and security of the homeland” during the Nato bombing of Serbia.

His decoration has raised the prospect that the embassy attack may have been linked to the Nato bombing campaign, in which US forces had a lead role. But as yet Jaukovic’s motives remain unknown.

While the Montenegro press has speculated he used another grenade to kill himself it is also possible that the device exploded prematurely before he could use it on his intended target.