A luxury Libyan hotel known for serving foreign tourists was stormed by five armed men on Tuesday who shot and killed at least three guards as they occupied the building and grabbed hostages.
Fox News reported that between five and six others were also killed and that some of the dead might be foreign visitors.
A hotel staffer said five masked men wearing what appeared to be bulletproof vests charged into the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli and fired randomly, killing at least three. The staffer was able to flee, along with several foreign guests, into the hotel’s back parking lot. There, a car bomb exploded in the lot, he said, The Independent reported.
Some media have reported that terrorists with the Islamic State are responsible for the attack, but that has not yet been confirmed.
CNN reported that an online group that backs the Islamic State said the attack was conducted in the name of Abu Anas al-Libi, a suspected al Qaeda operative believed to have helped bomb U.S. embassies in Africa and who died at a U.S. hospital earlier this month.
The hotel was currently serving guests from Italy, Britain and Turkey. The situation is fluid, and authorities are on the scene. Libya has been the scene of much fighting and tensions in recent months.
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• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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