A car bomb exploded at the French Embassy in Tripoli, the capital city of Libya. Two French guards were injured in the attack.
Libyan security officials confirmed that a car bomb exploded at the French Embassy in Tripoli, the capital city of Libya, the Associate Press reported. The blast created extensive damage and two French guards standing outside the embassy were injured in the attack. The blast started a fire at the entrance and caused damage to two other buildings nearby.
"We think it was a booby-trapped car," an unnamed French official told the Reuters news agency. "There was a lot of damage," the official said. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said from Paris that the bombing was an "abhorrent act" and that France would work to "quickly identify the perpetrators."
"France expects the Libyan authorities to shed the fullest light on this unacceptable act, so that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice," French President Francois Hollande said.
According to the president, the bombing was "aimed, by way of France, at all the countries of the international community engaged in the struggle against terrorism."
Addressing the extent of damage incurred, a French official said that half the building had been burnt. The force of the blast extended about five hundred yards, breaking windows in neighboring buildings and houses. A broken water main flooded the street.
"I was knocked out of bed," a resident living nearby said. "I lived in Baghdad and I woke up to explosions as big as this one."
