A Libyan affiliate of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack on a Tripoli luxury hotel that killed 10 people, including an American and four Europeans.
The group, calling itself “Islamic State in Tripoli Province,” said it launched the attack on Tuesday to avenge the death of Abu Anas al-Libi, who was snatched off a Tripoli street by U.S. special forces in 2013 and died in U.S. custody earlier this month due to complications from liver surgery. Al-Libi had been indicted in U.S. federal court over his alleged role in the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The group identified the attackers as Abu Ibrahim al-Tunsi and Abu Suleiman al-Sudani, noms de guerre that suggest the attackers were Tunisian and Sudanese. The affiliate had previously claimed responsibility for an attack on the Algerian Embassy that wounded three guards.
In addition to the foreigners, five guards were killed in the attack on Tuesday on the seaside Corinthia Hotel. Two attackers were killed following an hours-long standoff that included a car bombing.
A senior U.S. State Department official confirmed that an American citizen was among those killed. Cliff Taylor, the CEO of a Virginia security company, Crucible LLC, identified the slain American as David Berry, a contractor with his company. — AP
