KUWAIT CITY - Two U.S. soldiers were shot and seriously wounded yesterday in this tiny nation bordering Iraq and an American missionary was gunned down in Lebanon, the latest in a spate of attacks that suggest it has become increasingly dangerous to be American in the Arab world.

Threats and assaults on U.S. citizens and businesses have become more frequent in recent weeks, even in countries such as Kuwait and Jordan that had long been considered among the safest and most pro-American in the region.

Some of the incidents may be spontaneous, traceable to rising anti-American sentiment fueled by the possibility of a U.S.-led war against Iraq, and by what is seen as Washington's unquestioning support for Israel. But other attacks, observers say, may be part of an orchestrated campaign by al-Qaida and its supporters to follow Osama bin Laden's recent dictate to kill Americans and their allies.

Although authorities here and in Lebanon said it was too soon to identify a motive in either assault yesterday, the incidents underscore the reality that Americans were forced to confront on Sept. 11 last year - that extremists have declared them fair game.

As security is increased at official U.S. sites, terrorists will seek "softer" targets, the State Department warned in a worldwide alert Wednesday.

But Americans should not draw the false conclusion that everyone hates their country, a Kuwaiti government spokesman insisted.

"There is no anti-Americanism at all in Kuwait," said Yahqoub Abdullah of the Kuwaiti Information Ministry. "A bunch of kids is ruining our relations - doing illegal things. We in Kuwait appreciate what you have done for us. These kids doing these things don't have Kuwaiti hearts. They are really, really shameful."

Bonnie Whitherall, 31, a nurse and Christian missionary from Washington, was the first victim yesterday. Whitherall, who volunteers at a clinic for the poor in the Lebanese port city of Sidon, was shot three times in the head as she opened the front door about 8:30 a.m.

Nothing was stolen, and observers said she could just as well have been targeted for her religion as for being an American, because of Lebanon's history of sectarian violence.

In Kuwait, where the government is so jittery about attacks on Americans that officials have banned residents from nearly a quarter of the nation where the U.S. military operates, two soldiers were shot by a Kuwaiti traffic police officer who then fled across the border to Saudi Arabia, authorities said. Authorities are working to extradite the suspect.

The officer was described as a junior member of the traffic department. He opened fire about 10:30 a.m. as the soldiers drove from the U.S. military base of Camp Doha to the town of Arifjan on official business.

One soldier was hit in the face and the other in the shoulder. The soldiers, who did not return fire, managed to drive on to Arifjan, from which they were airlifted to a Kuwaiti military hospital. The identities of the injured soldiers were withheld pending notification of their families. A Pentagon spokesman said their injuries, while serious, did not appear life-threatening.

Michael Slackman and John Daniszewski write for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.