IS terrorists attack Korea's Libya mission

The Korean Embassy in Libya has been targeted in a deadly armed attack, purportedly by the Islamic State (IS), the government said Sunday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a group of gunmen fired machine guns toward the embassy compound in Tripoli around 1:20 a.m., Sunday while driving past in a car.

Two Libyan police officers who were providing security at the embassy’s main gate were killed, according to the foreign ministry.

Another guard sustained injuries and was taken to hospital.

No Korean casualties have been reported so far, it added.

“For now, the motive is unclear as to whether the assailants were aiming for the embassy or the Libyan police officers, but there was no damage other than to the embassy’s outer wall,” a ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

He also said Korean Ambassador to Libya Lee Jong-kook was in Tunisia on business when the attack took place.

According to the foreign ministry, IS claimed that its fighters in Tripoli killed the two police officers in a statement posted on its Twitter account two hours after the incident.

The Islamist group did not specify why it targeted the Korean embassy.

Seoul said it is considering pulling its entire staff from the Libyan capital and has asked Libyan police to tighten security around the embassy.

Some 40 Korean nationals, including two diplomats and one administrative staff member at the embassy, live in Libya, which has been hit by military conflicts among rival tribes and IS militants.

The attack on Sunday came after violence which saw at least ten people, including five foreigners from the United States and Tajikistan, killed in Tripoli on Jan. 28.

That incident saw gunmen presumed to have links to IS storm into the Corinthia Hotel and open fire in the reception area.

A car bomb also exploded nearby during the attack.

In February, the Tripoli branch of IS released video footage showing the 21 Coptic Christians in Libya.

The militants used the video as a warning to Christians and Christian nations at war with IS, which has been seeking to expand its influence across the Middle East after seizing one third of Iraq and Syria

Libya is one of the six countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen where the government has imposed a travel ban. Those who wish to travel to those nations need to acquire permission from the government.

Korea has been running an interim diplomatic mission on Wang Geon, a Navy destroyer, since April 5 in waters off the Gulf of Aden to provide greater security to its nationals in Yemen

A total of 23 Koreans opted to stay in the Middle Eastern country following Seoul’s recent evacuation of its people from the conflict-hit nation.