Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Libya’s capital Tuesday, killing at least five foreigners and three guards, authorities said.
The attack, which included a car bombing, struck the Corinthia Hotel, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea.
Mahmoud Hamza, commander of the so-called Special Deterrent Force, told al-Nabaa that the situation was “under control” on Tuesday afternoon, though he couldn’t confirm the whereabouts of the gunmen. He also said five foreigners were killed, without elaborating.
ADVERTISEMENT
Another security official earlier said the gunmen killed three guards and took hostages, but had no further information on the captives’ identities. He also said that two commercial landmark towers behind the hotel were evacuated out of security concerns.
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
When they got there, he said a car bomb exploded in the parking lot, only a hundred metres 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. He said the car bomb left at least five cars in the parking lot burned and damaged some windows in the hotel’s facade.