Fighters have stormed Libya’s foreign ministry in the capital, Tripoli, killing at least three people, including a senior civil servant, the authorities said.
Ten other people were wounded in what officials said was a suicide attack carried out by “terrorists” on Tuesday.
A car bomb exploded near the ministry, prompting security forces to rush to the scene.
A suicide bomber then blew himself up on the second floor of the building while a second attacker died when the suitcase he was carrying exploded, according to Tarak al-Dawass, spokesperson for the special forces.
A third assailant, who was unarmed and wearing a bulletproof vest, was killed by security forces outside, added Dawass, who accused the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group of being responsible.
Early on Wednesday, ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq website.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the building as ambulances, paramedics and security forces gathered outside.
Security forces cordoned off the area and took control of all the buildings around the foreign ministry headquarters, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli, said.
All individuals and employees have been ordered to evacuate the buildings immediately, he added.
Abdelwahed said a security official was killed in the attack, while security sources said a civil servant who headed a department in the foreign ministry was also among the victims.
Meanwhile, a source from Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade, one of the strongest armed groups in the capital, told Reuters news agency that their spokesperson, Abdulrahman Mazoughi, died in the attack.
