Car Bomb Explodes At French Embassy in Libya

The French embassy in Libya has been damaged after a car bomb attack in the capital of Tripoli.
Officials have confirmed that two security guards were injured in the attack.

"There was an attack on the embassy. We think it was a booby-trapped car," a Libyan official said.

"There was a lot of damage and there are two guards wounded."

The blast destroyed a security wall and severely damaged the building when the blast occurred at about 7am local time.

The French mission is located in a two-storey villa in the uptown Gargaresh area of Tripoli.

Journalist William Crisp, at the scene, told Sky News: "The engine block of the car landed quite a way from the embassy so it was quite a strong blast.

"The attack was in a sleepy, wealthy part of town. It was a middle-class neighbourhood."

The motive for the attack, the first assault launched on an embassy in the Libyan capital, was not immediately clear.

A French source confirmed an attack against the embassy and said one guard was seriously wounded and another lightly hurt.

Buildings opposite the embassy were also damaged in the attack and two cars parked near the embassy were destroyed.

Libyan foreign minister Mohammed Abdel Aziz condemned the attack on the embassy, calling it a "terrorist act".

"We strongly condemn this act, which we regard as a terrorist act against a brother nation that supported Libya during the revolution" of 2011 that ousted the regime of Moamer Kadhafi, Abdel Aziz told AFP news agency at the scene of the blast.

In Paris, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius condemned the bombing, calling it an "abhorrent act."

In a statement, Mr Fabius said his ministry was "in liaison with the Libyan authorities" and that France will "do everything it can to shed light on the circumstances of this abhorrent act and to quickly identify the perpetrators".

Mr Fabius is expected to make a visit to the city to discuss the situation with both Libyan officials and French diplomatic staff.

Sky News Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall added: "It is another indication of how things are not doing well in Libya.

"The French would be a target, along with Britain, as they spearheaded regime change from the Gaddafi era."