20 MINUTES, LE MONDE, LE FIGARO (France), REUTERS
PARIS – French President François Hollande has condemned a car bomb attack that hit France’s embassy in Libya’s capital Tripoli early Tuesday, injuring two French guards.
“France expects the Libyan authorities to shed light on this unacceptable act so that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice,” Hollande said in an official statement quoted by 20 Minutes.
The explosion, caused by one or two booby-trapped cars according to Le Monde, left the French embassy badly damaged. A diplomatic source quoted by French daily Le Figaro says up to 60% of the building was destroyed.
A member of staff from #french #embassy arriving to asses damage and attend to wounded personnel #tripoli #libya twitter.com/Eh4b10/status/…
— Ehab ايهاب (@Eh4b10) April 23, 2013
This is the first attack on a French target since the end of the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, in which France took the lead role.
No one has yet claimed responsability for the bombing, but Reuters notes that al Qaeda’s north African arm AQIM has warned of retaliation for France’s intervention in Mali – while Le Monde mentions France’s involvment in the crackdown against militias in Tripoli as a potential reason for the attack.
Scene at st of #french #embassy before firefighters arrived to put out the flames, only 1 eye witness #libya twitter.com/Eh4b10/status/…
— Ehab ايهاب (@Eh4b10) April 23, 2013
In September, an attack against the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in eastern Libya killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
