Tripoli hotel attack leaves at least 9 dead

PanARMENIAN.Net - Militants have attacked a hotel in the Libyan capital Tripoli, killing at least nine people including five foreigners, officials say, according to BBC News.

Several gunmen stormed the Corinthia Hotel and opened fire in the reception area. A car bomb also exploded nearby.

Unconfirmed reports say some of the assailants have blown themselves up. The officials say the dead include one U.S. and one French citizen. The security forces say the stand-off has now been brought to an end.

The U.S. state department has confirmed the death of a U.S. citizen, without giving any further details. The dead American is believed to have been a security contractor. The French national is reported to have been working for Libya's Buraq Air.

There are conflicting reports as to the total number of attackers. A Twitter account linked to Islamic State said the militant group had carried out the attack.

There has been strong evidence to suggest an IS presence in the eastern city of Derna since October, with a group there publicly declaring allegiance to its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. However, the command structure is still a mystery to most foreign observers.

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says that in the past month there has been a string of incidents in western Libya, including abductions and bombings, that have been claimed by IS social media accounts. However, it has not been clearly established whether these groups are IS foot soldiers or people inspired by them.