Libya has devolved into a horrific civil war.  Within this vacuum of non-government, the Islamic State secures a foothold.  In Libya, the various Islamist factions are coalescing under the name New Libya Dawn, which is essentially, ISIS.  • Hostages have been taken.

LIBYA – At least eight people, including five foreigners, were killed during an attack by gunmen against a luxury hotel in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Tuesday, a security official told local television.
Mahmoud Hamza, director of Libya’s special deterrence force, told al-Naba television that five foreigners, including two women, as well as a security officer and two of the gunmen, died in the attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli. He did not give the nationalities of the foreigners. Militants from Isis in Libya claimed responsibility for the attack nearby.
A hotel staffer said the attack began when five masked gunmen wearing bulletproof vests stormed the hotel after security guards at the hotel’s gate tried to stop them. He said they entered the hotel and fired randomly at the staff in the lobby.
Security forces had surrounded the Corinthia Hotel in central Tripoli and gunfire was heard from nearby.
A hotel staffer said the attack began when five masked gunmen wearing bulletproof vests stormed the hotel after security guards at the hotel’s gate tried to stop them. He said they entered the hotel and fired randomly at the staff in the lobby.
In a brief statement on Twitter, the Tripoli branch of Isis claimed to have stormed the hotel, the SITE Intelligence monitoring group said.
‘It’s an evolving situation, what we’re hearing is what is being reported on the news,’ a spokesman for the Malta-based Corinthia Hotel chain, Matthew Dixon, told AFP by telephone. (read more)