The attack, which included a car bombing, struck the Corinthia Hotel, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea. 
 
 Mahmoud Hamza, commander of the so-called Special Deterrent Force, told private satellite television station al-Nabaa that the situation was "under control" Tuesday afternoon, though he couldn't confirm the whereabouts of the gunmen. He also said five foreigners were killed, without elaborating. 
 
 Another security official earlier said the gunmen killed three guards and took hostages, but had no further information on the captives' identities. He also said that two commercial landmark towers behind the hotel were evacuated out of security concerns. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. 
 
 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. 
 
 The staffer said the gunmen fired in his direction when he opened his door to look out. He said he joined the rest of the staff and foreign guests fleeing out the hotel's back doors into the parking lot. 
 
 When they got there, he said a car bomb exploded in the parking lot, only a hundred meters (yards) away. He said this came after a protection force entered the lobby and opened fire on the attackers. He said two guards were immediately killed. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared being targeted later by militants. He said the car bomb left at least five cars in the parking lot burned and damaged some windows in the hotel's facade. 
 
 He said the hotel had Italian, British and Turkish guests, but the hotel was largely empty at the time of the attack. He said the militia-backed Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi usually resides at the hotel, but was not there Tuesday. Al-Hassi's security guards also weren't there, he said. The hotel previously came under attack in 2013 when a former prime minister was abducted there. 
 
 Since the ouster and 2011 killing of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the country has been torn among competing militias and tribes vying for power. Libya's post-Gadhafi transition has collapsed, with two rival governments and parliaments — each backed by different militias — ruling in the country's eastern and western regions. Tripoli has been hit with series of car bombs and shootings amid the turmoil. 
 
 The Malta-owned hotel is also where the United Nations support mission in Libya holds its meetings. The mission is currently hosting political talks with rival Libyan groups in Geneva. ||||| Story highlights Libyan branch of ISIS claims responsibility; names attackers 
 
 Libyan spokesman says death toll is at least 10 people at hotel and two attackers 
 
 Siege is over and the gunmen are dead, hotel company spokesman says 
 
 An American security contractor is among the dead, his company says 
 
 (CNN) At least 10 people and two attackers were killed in Tuesday's attack against the luxurious Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, a spokesman for a security division of the Ministry of Interior in Tripoli said. 
 
 Five foreigners -- one American, one French citizen, and three people from Tajikistan -- were killed in the attack, Essam al-Naas said. Five Libyans were killed. 
 
 The Libyan branch of ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, and released photos of the two gunmen, it said had carried out the attacks as Abu Ibraheem Al-Tunsi and Abu Sulaiman Al-Sudani. Their naming convention indicates that the men were of Tunisian and Sudanese origin, respectively. 
 
 Al-Naas said it appears the attackers were Libyans. 
 
 American contractor David Berry was among the people killed in a terrorist attack at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, on Tuesday, according to Cliff Taylor, chief executive officer of Crucible, a security firm where Berry was working. 
 
 Read More
– At least eight people are dead after gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Libya popular with foreigners, reports the AP. ISIS (or at least a Twitter account linked to the group) has claimed credit for the attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, reports the BBC. Details are still unfolding, but authorities say five of the fatalities are foreigners and three are guards. One security official said the situation was "under control," but there were conflicting reports about whether the gunmen were holed up in the hotel with hostages. CNN says three of them were still inside. The attack reportedly began with a car bomb at the hotel, the same one from which Libyan's prime minister was seized in 2013.