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Middle East and North Africa

Group of 10 people attack Russian embassy in Tripoli

The search for the criminals continues

Photo EPA/SABRI ELMHEDWI

Photo EPA/SABRI ELMHEDWI

CAIRO, October 2 (Itar-Tass) - About ten people were participating in an attack on the Russian Embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday evening. The search for the criminals continues, the Libyan news agency LANA reported with the reference to representatives of the country’s Interior Ministry.

Neither diplomats nor local security guards were injured, massive damage was caused to the building of the diplomatic mission. It is clear that the armed people drove up to the diplomatic mission by two cars. At first they opened fire at a service car of the embassy parked nearby, then at the embassy. As long as the law enforcers arrived at the incident site, the attackers escaped.

The situation is put under control, no Russian diplomats were injured, informed sources in Tripoli confirmed to Itar-Tass earlier on Wednesday. “On Wednesday evening, an armed attack was delivered on the diplomatic mission and an attempt to break inside the embassy was made. The attackers opened fire and tore off the Russian national flag,” they said. “There are no aliens on the premises of the diplomatic mission. The situation is put under control,” they said.

The criminal detectives and the security department of the diplomatic missions are investigating the incident, LANA reported. Libyan law enforcement agencies did not rule out that the Wednesday attack may be linked with the incident on Tuesday probably involving the Russian woman. On Tuesday, she, according to the reports of local media, shot down officer of the Libyan Air Force Mohammed as-Susi in Tripoli, and inflicted several knife wounds to his old mother. The young woman is not identified and the motives of her crime are unclear.

About two years after the victory of the so-called February 17 revolution and the end of the civil war, which resulted in the toppling and assassination of Jamahiriya leader Muammar Gaddafi, new Libyan authorities turned out to be unable to establish order despite all attempts. Units of former militiamen, including radical Islamists uncontrollable to the central authorities and establishing their laws on the territories under their control continue acting in Libya.

At the end of April a mined car was blasted at the French embassy in Tripoli that resulted in wounding the French security guard and a Libyan woman nearby. On January 12, the car of the Italian consul came under fire in Benghazi.

The violence has got on the largest scale in this city, which is named as the cradle of the Libyan revolution. The most serious incident occurred on September 11, 2012, when U.S. Ambassador in Libya Christopher Stevens and other three Americans were killed in the attack on the U.S. embassy in the city.

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