2015 Corinthia Hotel attack

Last updated
Corinthia Hotel Attack
Corinthia Hotel Tripoli Libya.JPG
The Corinthia Hotel main tower
Location Corinthia Hotel Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
Coordinates 32°53′50″N13°10′13″E / 32.89722°N 13.17028°E / 32.89722; 13.17028
Date27 January 2015 (2015-01-27)
09:00 (UTC+2)
Attack type
car bombing; mass shooting, suicide bombing
Deaths10 (not including the perpetrators)
Injured5
PerpetratorsAQMI Flag asymmetric.svg  Islamic State [1]
Motive2013 arrest of Abu Anas al-Libi by U.S. forces

In January 2015, the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli was attacked by men affiliated with the Islamic State (IS). [1] The hotel was popular with foreign officials and government workers; it had previously housed the Libyan Prime Minister.

Contents

Attack

In the early hours of 27 January 2015, IS-affiliated men detonated a car bomb in the parking garage of the hotel. In the chaos, an estimated 5 gunmen stormed past the local guard and entered the hotel, intent on killing guests. [2]

Some of the attackers survived the initial contact, leading to a protracted hostage situation. [3]

Victims

Deaths by nationality
CountryNumber
Flag of Libya.svg Libya5
Flag of Tajikistan.svg Tajikistan3
Flag of France.svg France1
Flag of the United States.svg United States1
Total10

Five foreigners died in the attack: one American, one Frenchman, and three Tajiks (including two women). The American, David Berry, was working as a contractor for an American security firm named Crucible. Five Libyan security personnel are also reported to have died in the attack. [4]

Perpetrators and motivations

The attack was carried out by men belonging to IS "Tripoli Province", who are believed to have been natives of Libya. The attackers' stated objective was revenge for the death of Abu Anas al-Libi, a Libyan Al-Qaeda operative who was involved in the bombing of two American embassies in 1998. He was captured by American forces inside Libya in 2013, and died in an American hospital on 2 January 2015. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism in Egypt</span> List of terrorist attacks in Egypt from the 1940s to the present day

Terrorism in Egypt in the 20th and 21st centuries has targeted the Egyptian government officials, Egyptian police and Egyptian army members, tourists, Sufi Mosques and the Christian minority. Many attacks have been linked to Islamic extremism, and terrorism increased in the 1990s when the Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya targeted high-level political leaders and killed hundreds – including civilians – in its pursuit of implementing traditional Sharia law in Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)</span> Sunni Islamic insurgency in the Maghreb

An Islamist insurgency is taking place in the Maghreb region of North Africa, followed on from the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002. The Algerian militant group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) allied itself with al-Qaeda to eventually become al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Algerian and other Maghreb governments fighting the militants have worked with the United States and the United Kingdom since 2007, when Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara began.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libya–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Libya–United States relations are the bilateral relations between the State of Libya and the United States of America. Relations are today cordial and cooperative, with particularly strong security cooperation only after the 2012 attack on the US liaison office or mission in Benghazi. Furthermore, a Gallup poll conducted in March and April 2012 found that Libyans had "among the highest approval" of US leadership in the entire Middle East and North Africa region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corinthia Hotel Tripoli</span> Five star skyscraper hotel in Tripoli, Libya

The Corinthia Hotel Tripoli, originally known as the Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, is a five star skyscraper hotel in Tripoli, Libya. It is located in the city center, near the central business district. It is run by the Maltese Corinthia Hotels International CHI plc hotels management company. The hotel was opened in 2003 by Prime Minister, Shukri Ghanem [More information required].

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Factional violence in Libya (2011–2014)</span> Period of violence in Libya following the overthrow of Gaddafi

Following the end of the First Libyan Civil War, which overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, there was violence involving various militias and the new state security forces. This violence has escalated into the Second Libyan Civil War (2014–2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Zeidan</span> Libyan politician

Ali Zeidan is a former Prime Minister of Libya. He was appointed by the General National Congress on 14 October 2012, and took office on 14 November after Congress approved his cabinet nominees. Prior to the Libyan Civil War, Zeidan was a Geneva-based human rights lawyer and according to the BBC, he is considered by some local observers as a strong-minded liberal. He was ousted by the parliament committee and fled from Libya on 14 March 2014. However, he told the press conference in Rabat, Morocco, that the ousting was invalid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaddafi loyalism</span> Sympathetic sentiment towards the overthrown government of Muammar Gaddafi

Gaddafi loyalism, in a wider political and social sense also known as the Green resistance, consists of sympathetic sentiment towards the overthrown government of Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed in October 2011, and his Third International Theory. Despite Muammar Gaddafi's death, his legacy and Jamahiriya ideology still maintains a popular appeal both inside and outside Libya into the present day. Regardless, the Western sentiment has largely been that this continued support may contribute to some of the ongoing violence in Libya.

The 2013 Libyan coup attempt was a coup d'état attempt by a group of members of the General National Congress to take control of the country from Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. Zeidan was kidnapped in the early hours of the 10 October by armed gunmen and was then released several hours later after a pro-government militia stormed the site where he was being held. Following his release Zeidan claimed the incident was an attempted coup orchestrated by two militias in line with members of the GNC opposed to Zeidan.

The following lists events that happened during 2015 in the State of Libya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State in Libya</span> Branch of Islamic State in Libya

The Islamic State – Libya Province is a militant Islamist group active in Libya under three branches: Fezzan Province in the desert south, Cyrenaica Province in the east, and Tripolitania Province in the west. The branches were formed on 13 November 2014, following pledges of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by militants in Libya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Bamako hotel attack</span> Terrorist attack in Radisson Blu, Bamako

On 20 November 2015, Islamist militants took 170 hostages and killed 20 of them in a mass shooting at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, the capital city of Mali. US Army Sergeant First Class Kyle Morgan, a member of the Combat Applications Group, the DOD SMU commonly referred to as Delta Force, along with the assistance of GySgt Jared Stout, a MARSOC CSO that worked out of the same embassy as Morgan, launched an assault with Malian Security Forces on the hotel to recover the surviving hostages. Al-Mourabitoun claimed that it carried out the attack "in cooperation with" al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; an al Qaeda member confirmed that the two groups cooperated in the attack.

This is a detailed timeline of the Libyan civil war (2014–2020) which lasted from 2014 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State insurgency in Tunisia</span> Armed conflict (2015–2022)

The Islamic State Insurgency in Tunisia referred to the low–level militant and terror activity of the Islamic State branch in Tunisia from 2015 to 2022. The activity of the Islamic State (IS) in Tunisia began in June 2015, with the Sousse attacks, though an earlier terror incident in Bardo Museum in March 2015 was claimed by ISIL, while the Tunisian government blamed Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade for the attack. Following massive border clashes near Ben Guerdane in March 2016, the activity of the IS group was described as an armed insurgency, switching from previous tactics of sporadic suicide attacks to attempts to gain territorial control. The armed insurgency was suppressed in 2022.

Clashes occurred in western Libya since 14 October 2016, when a coup d'état attempt was conducted by the former head of the National Salvation Government (GNS), Khalifa al-Ghawil, against Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA). This evolved into fighting between the GNA and GNS for control of Tripoli and parts of western Libya, while pro-GNA militias also attacked other militias for control of the region.

The 2018 National Oil Corporation attack was a terrorist attack that occurred on 10 September 2018, in which at least six gunmen from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya carried out an attack, taking several hostages and killing at least 2 staff members from the National Oil Corporation. During the attack, a shootout occurred with security forces loyal to the Tripoli-based government. An al-Jazeera journalist reported that the gunmen attacked the main gate of the facility, and the attack caused a wave of panic in Tripoli.

The Sanmatenga attacks occurred on 8 September 2019 in the Sanmatenga Province, Burkina Faso. In the Barsalogho Department a vehicle transporting people and goods, that was returning from a market, drove over an improvised explosive device (IED). 15 passengers were killed and six were injured in the IED attack. Most of the victims were traders. Meanwhile, around 50 km to the east, a convoy with vans carrying provisions for people displaced by fighting was attacked by gunmen. In this attack, 14 people were killed. It is unknown who carried out this attacks.

The Salmossi mosque attack occurred on the evening of Friday, 11 October 2019 in a mosque in Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso which left 16 people dead and two injured. It happened while the residents were praying inside the Grand Mosque in Salmossi, a village close to the border with Mali. AFP reported that 13 people died on the spot while 3 died later due to the injuries.

The Dolmané gold mine attack occurred on 4 October 2019 near Madouji, Arbinda Department, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. The Dolmané gold mining site was attacked by suspected Islamic terrorists. The attack took place not far from where a bridge linking two northern towns was blown up in mid-September. At least 20 persons, mostly people that worked in the gold mine, were killed and an unknown number of people were injured. Both Islamic State and al-Qaeda have affiliated groups in the region. It is unknown which of the two was responsible for this attack.

On 12 December 2022, insurgents attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 3 civilians were killed. 18 others, including foreigners, are reported to be among those injured. Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack.

References

  1. 1 2 "′Islamic State′ attacks Libya hotel - News - DW.DE - 27.01.2015". DW.DE. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  2. Faucon, Benoit (28 January 2015). "Gunmen Stage Deadly Attack on Libyan Hotel". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  3. "Libya hotel attack: Five foreigners among nine killed". BBC News. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 Karadsheh, Jomana; Alkhshali, Hamdi (28 January 2015). "Gunmen attack Corinthia Hotel in Libya; at least 10 die". CNN. Retrieved 28 January 2015.

32°53′49″N13°10′15″E / 32.8969°N 13.1708°E / 32.8969; 13.1708