8 people killed, including 5 foreigners, on terror raid on a Libyan hotel. Yahoo/AP

Hotel Corinthia, Tripoli, Libya. Yahoo/AP.

Gunmen  killed 8 people, including 5 foreigners at the Hotel Corinthia in Tripoli, Libya. Yahoo/AP. The gunmen killed 3 security guards who tried to defend the hotel and set off a car bomb in the parking lot. Early reports claimed that hostages were taken. The hotel was largely empty but British, Turkish and Italians were staying there. The hotel is also the home of Prime Minster Omar al-Hussi, the leader of the militia backed rival government but he was not present during the attack. Libya has been chaotic since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with rival militias and Islamic terrorists vying for control. 

CNN is reporting that an ISIS aligned online group in revenge for an Al-Qaeda operative involved in the African Embassy bombings died in U.S. custody.  They are also reporting that the situation is still ongoing and that the area has been blocked off by security forces. 

My Comment:

There are so many groups in Libya that could be responsible for this attack that it is too soon to speculate too much about who did it. We don't even know who the target was at this point. Was it the Western people that were staying there? Was it Omar al-Hussi or some other official that was the real target? Or was it just a convenient target. I know CNN says it's possible that it was an ISIS affiliate but it is just too soon to tell. It wouldn't be the first time that a terror group took credit for another groups action. 

If it was an attack by ISIS or an affiliate organization that that is very disturbing news indeed. ISIS has some presence in the area but until now they haven't done much other then train troops. If they are joining the utter chaos that is Libya right now that is bad news for everyone. The Libyan government, the rival government, the various militias, even the Islamic ones, all of them might end up fighting ISIS. In fact the whole situation reminds me of Syria. Large groups of rival groups, a weak government, tons of weapons. The whole situation could lead to another area under domination of ISIS. It just depends on if ISIS can repeat the success they had in Syria. 

Of course this is all premature if it turns out that any other group is responsible for this attack. Given how fractured and chaotic Libya is right now that wouldn't be surprising. I've posted before that I think the U.S. led intervention was a mistake, not because getting rid of Gadhafi was bad but because nobody had a plan for what to do after he was gone. Where have I heard that before? Iraq, Syria, Egypt. Turns out when you get rid of a brutal dictator and replace it with a weak government Islamist tend to fill the void. That's probably going to be the great historical lesson of the early 21st century.