Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Libya's capital, killing at least 11
people, inlcuding three guards and five foreigners, before blowing
themselves up after being surrounded by security, officials said.
The attack, which included the use of a car bomb, struck the
popular Corinthia Hotel, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea and is a
major hub for diplomatic and government activity in Tripoli.
Mahmoud Hamza, commander of the so-called Special Deterrent Force,
told private satellite television station al-Nabaa that the situation
was "under control'' by Tuesday afternoon.
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The incident today sends a message that Tripoli is not secure. |
He confirmed that five foreigners had been killed, without giving
further details, according to a report from the AP news agency.
Issam al-Naass, a spokesman for security services, later told the AFP
news agency that the gunmen blew themselves up after being surrounded
on an upper floor.
"After being pursued and surrounded on the hotel's 24th floor, the
attackers detonated explosive belts they were wearing," Naass said.
According to security sources at the scene, the attack began when
four armed men detonated a car bomb in front of the hotel, killing a
guard, before rushing inside.
Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from the scene in Tripoli, said security forces had rescued eight US nationals.
"We know [the gunmen] entered the hotel and then went straight to the upper floor. They used hand grenades and AK47s."
Libya is mired in conflict between two rival governments - an
internationally recognised one based in eastern Libya and a rival
administration set up in Tripoli after an armed faction called Libya
Dawn took over the capital.
The attack comes as a new round of UN-mediated peace talks between
Libya's rival factions started in Geneva on Monday as they seek to
implement a roadmap on forming a unity government.
Mary Fitzgerald, a journalist reporting from Libya, told Al
Jazeera: "The incident today sends a message that Tripoli is not
secure."
"This will undermine the message that they are trying to send," she
said, referring to the government based in the Libyan capital.
'Reprehensible act'
In a brief statement on Twitter, the Tripoli branch of the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed the attack, the SITE
Intelligence monitoring group said.
"Our thoughts are with our staff and guests," a spokesman for the
Malta-based Corinthia Hotel chain, Matthew Dixon, told AFP by
telephone. "We have no further information."
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini called the attack
"another reprehensible act of terrorism which deals a blow to efforts to
bring peace and stability to Libya."
She expressed "solidarity with the victims and their families" but provided no details of casualties.
"Such attacks should not be allowed to undermine the political process," Mogherini
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