5 foreigners, 3 guards killed in Libyan hotel attack
Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Libya's capital Tuesday,
killing at least five foreigners and three guards, authorities said.
The attack, which including a car bombing, struck the
Corinthia Hotel, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea, reports AP.
Mahmoud Hamza, commander of the so-called Special Deterrent
Force, told private satellite television station al-Nabaa that the situation
was "under control" Tuesday afternoon, though he couldn't confirm the
whereabouts of the gunmen. He also said five foreigners were killed, without
elaborating.
Another security official earlier said the gunmen killed
three guards and took hostages, but had no further information on who the
captives were. He also said that two commercial landmark towers behind the
hotel were evacuated out of security concerns. He spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
A hotel staffer said five masked attackers wearing
bulletproof vests stormed the hotel after security at the gates tried to stop
them. He said they entered the hotel and fired randomly at the staff in the
lobby.
The staffer said the gunmen fired in his direction when he
opened his door to look out. He said he joined the rest of the staff and
foreign guests fleeing out the hotel's back doors into the parking lot.
When they got there, he said a car bomb exploded in the
parking lot, only a hundred meters (yards) away. He said this came after a
protection force entered the lobby and opened fire on the attackers. He said
two guards were immediately killed. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity
because he feared retribution. He said the car bomb left at least five cars in
the parking lot burned and damaged some windows in the hotel's facade.
He said the hotel had Italian, British and Turkish guests, but
the hotel was largely empty at the time of the attack. He said the
militia-backed Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi usually resides at the hotel, but
was not there Tuesday. Al-Hassi's security guards also weren't there, he said.
The hotel previously came under attack in 2013 when a former prime minister was
abducted there.
Since the ouster and 2011 killing of Libyan dictator Moammar
Gadhafi, the country has been torn among competing militias and tribes vying
for power. Libya's post-Gadhafi transition has collapsed, with two rival
governments and parliaments — each backed by different militias — ruling in the
country's eastern and western regions. Tripoli has been hit with series of car
bombs and shootings amid the turmoil.
The Malta-owned hotel is also where the United Nations
support mission in Libya holds its meetings. The mission is currently hosting
political talks with rival Libyan groups in Geneva.
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