‘Islamic State’ suicide bombers attack Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli

Picture of one of the dead terrorists who attacked the Corenthia hotel . #Tripoli #Libya pic.twitter.com/H8COMriwng

— Rida (@libyanproud) January 27, 2015

The spectre of terrorism haunting the Middle East edged a step closer to the Mediterranean when suicide bombers allegedly linked to the Islamic State’s Tripoli branch, detonated a car bomb and attacked staff at the Corinthia Tripoli hotel in a barrage of gunfire.

At 9am, three security guards outside the Maltese-owned property were killed as a group of armed men, as many as five, detonated the car bomb and then entered the hotel.

Hassan al-Abey, a corporate sales manager at the hotel, told the Wall Street Journal that five masked attackers wearing bulletproof vests stormed the hotel, shooting in the air.

Bloomberg reported that an American citizen and a cleaner from the Philippines died inside the hotel, quoting Colonel Guma El Missry, another security official.

MORE Islamic State claims Tripoli branch carried out attack to avenge death of Al Qaeda operative who died in US custody

Photo: Bullet-damaged hallways inside #Tripoli's Corinthia Hotel following yesterday's siege. #Libya via @rawadfree1 pic.twitter.com/MJCHMtSxkm

— LibyaAlHurra (@LibyaAlHurraTV) January 28, 2015

One gunman was arrested, state-run Lana news agency reported.

NBC confirmed that a Virginia-based security training and operation firm said one of its employees, David Berry, died in the attack. "Our company mourns this extraordinary loss with his family and friends," Cliff Taylor, chief operating officer of Team Crucible LLC, said in a statement. A senior State Department official confirmed a U.S. citizen was among the dead.

The hotel had Italian, British and Turkish guests, but was largely empty at the time of the attack. No diplomatic missions were present inside. Seven or eight United States nationals were also present in the hotel and evacuated.

Libyan Red Crescent removing bodies from Corenthia Hotel #Tripoli #Libya pic.twitter.com/b6iNV5noqY

— Rida (@libyanproud) January 27, 2015

After the terrorists made their way to the hotel lobby, they eventually reached the 21st floor of the hotel, before Libyan security forces made their way inside. A shoot-out ensued, but the grisly end to the siege was decided by the terrorists themselves, when they detonated explosives they were carrying on them.

Corinthia said that it managed to evacuate the entire building, relocating its Maltese staff to a safe zone in Janzour’s Palm City village, which the hotel chain owns.

The company denied there had been a hostage situation in the hotel, as some reports suggested.

Corinthia hotel CCTV stills showed the terrorists walking through the corridors of the top floor. Throughout the siege, affiliates of Islamic State or ‘Daesh’ as it is known in the Middle East, tweeted messages of support for the gunmen.

As early as 8:22am local time, tweets were suggesting in no uncertain terms that an “urgent storming” had taken place inside the Corinthia hotel, pointing out that the hotel housed diplomatic missions and security companies.

Another Twitter account, which was later taken down, tweeted that the hotel operation was dubbed the ‘Sheikh Abu Anas Libi invasion’.

At 11am, it was confirmed in an official IS-style breaking news alert that the Tripoli branch had carried out an incursion “against the apostate army and police close to the gates of the Corinthia Hotel” in the name of Sheikh Abu Anas Al Liby.

As early as 8:22am local time, tweets were suggesting in no uncertain terms that an “urgent storming” had taken place inside the Corinthia hotel, pointing out that the hotel housed diplomatic missions and security companies.

Another Twitter account, which was later taken down, tweeted that the hotel operation was dubbed the ‘Sheikh Abu Anas Libi invasion’.

At 11am, it was confirmed in an official IS-style breaking news alert that the Tripoli branch had carried out an incursion “against the apostate army and police close to the gates of the Corinthia Hotel” in the name of Sheikh Abu Anas Al Liby.

Foreign Policy correspondent and analyst Mohamed Eljarh tweeted early on that Tripoli’s Islamic State had announced that the attack on the Corinthia was “in revenge for the death of Abu Anas al-Libi, an alleged al Qaeda operative accused of involvement in the bombings of United States embassies in Africa who was captured by US special forces in Libya, and died this month in a US hospital.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will address the House of Representatives tonight in a statement on the attack on the Tripoli hotel.

Yesterday he said that Malta’s Security Service was monitoring the situation to see whether the attacks had any connection to the Maltese ownership of the hotel. In Brussels yesterday afternoon, Muscat reiterated that the Maltese employees still working in Tripoli were there against the advice of the government.

The hotel, one of Libya’s foremost tourism properties, houses diplomatic staff as well as political leaders: Omar al-Hasi, the prime minister leading the Tripoli government that is not recognised by the international community, was said to be residing at the hotel.

It was unclear whether the terrorists’ attack was linked to Hasi’s sojourn.

Hasi leads the Libya Dawn (Fajr Libya) government, which ousted Abdullah Al-Thinni’s internationally recognised government, now in exile in the city of Tobruk.

Libya Dawn yesterday suggested that the attacks were manoeuvered by supporters of the renegade general Khalif Hiftar’s Operation Dignity, which is fighting Misrata-backed Islamist forces.

A spokesperson for Corinthia yesterday reassured MaltaToday as early as 9:45am that all staff and guests had been evacuated. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted that the Maltese government was working closely with the Corinthia Group following the bomb explosion. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said his thoughts and prayers were with Corinthia staff.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs yesterday also said it was closely monitoring the ongoing situation at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli. “All Maltese employees are safe and out of harm’s way. The government again reiterates its travel advice issued in August 2014, against all forms of travel to Libya due to the prevailing situation.”

The EU’s High Representative, Federica Mogherini, said the attack at the Corinthia Hotel was “another reprehensible act of terrorism which deals a blow to efforts to bring peace and stability to Libya.”

 The EU expressed solidarity with the victims and their families. “The EU strongly supports the efforts of the ongoing UN led talks to bring a political solution based on respect and dialogue. Such attacks should not be allowed to undermine the political process.”

Evacuations at Burj Tripoli and Dat el Emad complexes also took place following the bombing.

The attack comes as the United Nations holds talks in Geneva aimed at ending violence between supporters of al-Hassi and the rival, internationally recognized government of Abdullah al-Thinni. Turmoil has deepened in the North African energy

producer since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with competing militias and tribes vying for influence and control of oil revenues.

Zeidan kidnapping

The Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli had been the home of former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan when he was kidnapped there by armed militiamen.

Home to diplomats after the 2011 war, former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was kidnapped from his room in October 2013 and released hours later.

Libya’s oil output dropped to between 200,000 and 300,000 barrels a day as insecurity spread, Ali Tarhouni, a former oil minister, said last week. That makes Libya, which holds Africa’s largest oil reserves, the smallest producer of the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The country was producing about 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 rebellion.