A former U.S. Marine was among eight people killed in Libya Tuesday after masked militants stormed a luxury hotel in an hours-long assault claimed by the murderous Islamic State.
David Berry was working for the Crucible private security firm when he was gunned down inside the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, company CEO Cliff Taylor told the Daily News.
Berry served 12 years in the Marine Corps starting in September 2000, according to his LinkedIn page. He had been working as a security manager in Tripoli since July.
“Our company was unfortunately a victim of the terrorist event,” Taylor told The News. “We would like to extend our extraordinary condolences to the family of our employees as we mourn their loss with them.”
The early morning attack got underway with the heavily armed extremists blasting through security and opening fire in the lobby, officials said.
Security forces rushed to the scene, setting off a gun battle that sent guests and hotel staff members scrambling for cover.
Minutes after the initial assault, a car bomb was detonated in the parking lot as foreign guests and workers were fleeing, a witness said.
The militants inside the hotel shot their way to the 24th floor — leaving behind a trail of bodies.
Surrounded, the terrorists took an unknown number of hostages. After several hours, the extremists threw a grenade at the security forces, killing themselves and a guard.
“The operation is over,” said Essam al-Naas, a spokesman for the Tripoli security agency.
The dead included five foreigners — Berry, two Filipinas, a French citizen and a South Korean. Five guards were also killed, security services spokesman Issam al-Naass told Agence France-Presse.
Ten people were also wounded in the attack, including security guards and guests.
The Tripoli branch of the Islamic State jihadist group claimed the attack was launched in honor of alleged Al Qaeda militant Abu Anas al-Libi.
Libi was captured by U.S. special forces in Tripoli nearly two years ago and died this month of complications stemming from liver surgery.
Officials of the militia-backed government in Tripoli blamed forces loyal to late dictator Moammar Khadafy and said the target was Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi.
Al-Hassi, who was staying on the hotel’s 22nd floor, escaped the attack unhurt after being hustled off the building.
“The attackers were attempting to assassinate him, and that is according to our investigation,” Omar Khadrawi, head of Tripoli security, told Reuters.
Another security official, Col. Guma El Missry, told Bloomberg News that one of the victims was an American citizen.
A hotel staffer said he narrowly avoided being shot after the masked gunmen blitzed the lobby.
As security forces returned fire, the staffer joined a group of workers and foreign guests fleeing out of a back door.
Soon after they made it into the parking lot, the car bomb exploded — burning at least five cars and damaging some of the hotel windows, the staffer said.
The hotel had Italian, British and Turkish guests but was largely empty at the time of the attack, the staffer said.
The incident marked the latest spasm of violence in Tripoli, which has been plagued by car bombings and shooting following the country’s 2011 civil war.
With News Wire Services
