Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj survived an assassination attempt in capital Tripoli on Monday, AFP reported. “All the cars were armour-plated, and there were no injuries,” a spokesperson for the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord said.

The motorcade was shot at when it was passing through Tripoli’s Abu Salim district and an investigation had been launched to find out who was behind the attack, the spokesperson told Reuters. The convoy was also carrying State Council head Abdulrahman Swehli and the commander of Presidential Guard, Najmi Nakua.

Some reports suggested that two security guards were seriously injured in the attack. However, the spokesperson told Reuters that the information was not correct. </s> Unidentified gunmen have opened fire on a convoy carrying the prime minister of Libya's UN-backed government, Fayez al-Sarraj, in Tripoli without causing any casualties, according to his administration.

Ashraf al-Thulthi, the administration spokesman, said on Monday that the incident occurred as the motorcade passed near the Abu Salim district of the Libyan capital.

"All the cars were armoured-plated, and there were no injuries," he said, adding an investigation was under way to identify the attackers.

It was unclear whether it was a targeted attack, Thulthi said.

The convoy was also carrying Abdurrahman Swehli, the head of the state council, Najmi Nakua, the commander of the presidential guard, according to Thulthi.

READ MORE: Libya conflict explained

Sarraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) said in a statement that Sarraj, Swehli and Nakua had opened a new criminal investigations unit in Tripoli on Monday morning, and published pictures of the three at the event. It did not mention the shooting.

Sarraj and the GNA's other leaders arrived in Tripoli last March following a UN-backed deal signed in late 2015.

Yet, his Tripoli-based government has struggled to impose its authority, particularly in eastern Libya where a rival administration holds sway. </s> TRIPOLI: A convoy carrying the prime minister of Libya's U.N.-backed government and the heads of an allied parliament and presidential guard came under fire in Tripoli on Monday, but none of the three were harmed, officials said.

A spokesman for the U.N.-backed government, Ashraf Tulty, said the motorcade had been hit by shooting as it passed through Tripoli's Abu Salim district. It was unclear who was behind the shooting or whether it was a targeted attack, he said. </s> A convoy carrying the prime minister of Libya's U.N.-backed government and the heads of an allied parliament and presidential guard came under fire in Tripoli on Monday, but none of the three were harmed, officials said. A spokesman for the U.N.-backed government, Ashraf Tulty, said the motorcade had been hit by shooting as it passed through Tripoli's Abu Salim district.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Star Online. </s> The convoy of Libya's contested unity government chief, Fayez al-Sarraj, came under gunfire in Tripoli on Monday, without causing any casualties, his administration said.

"The convoy of GNA (Government of National Accord) chief Fayez al-Sarraj... came under fire as it passed near the Abu Slim sector of Tripoli," said spokesman Ashraf al-Thulthi.

"All the cars were armoured-plated, and there were no injuries," he said, adding an investigation was underway to identify the assailants.

Sarraj's fragile GNA, formed under a UN-backed deal signed in late 2015, has struggled to impose its authority, particularly in eastern Libya where a rival administration holds sway. </s> TRIPOLI - A convoy carrying Libya's contested unity government chief, Fayez al-Sarraj, and other top officials came under heavy gunfire Monday in Tripoli, but they survived unharmed, spokesmen for his administration said.

"The convoy of GNA (Government of National Accord) chief Fayez al-Sarraj... came under fire as it passed near the Abu Slim sector of Tripoli," said spokesman Ashraf al-Thulthi. "All the cars were armoured-plated, and there were no injuries," he told AFP, adding an investigation was underway to identify the assailants. Mohamed Salem, a spokesman for the supreme state council, said its head, Abdel Rahman al-Swehli, was also in the convoy as well as presidential guards chief, Najmi al-Nakou.

The convoy came under "intensive gunfire" in eastern Tripoli and two guards were wounded, according to Salem. Libya has been submerged in chaos since the fall and slaying of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed 2011 armed uprising.

Sarraj's fragile GNA, formed under a UN-backed deal signed in late 2015, has struggled to impose its authority, particularly in eastern Libya where a rival administration holds sway. </s> A group of armed men on Monday attacked the Libyan state-owned National Oil Corporation headquarters in the capital Tripoli, security sources told EFE, leaving an unspecified number of victims.

At least two of the gunmen had committed suicide, according to Ahmad Salem, the spokesperson for the Special Deterrence Force, a militia controlled by the interior ministry of the Government of National Accord, the United Nations-backed interim government in Tripoli. </s> Armed men have stormed the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli, where a blast and gunfire were heard, according to officials and witnesses.

Six gunmen attacked the building on Monday, Interior Minister Brigadier General Abdul Salam Ashour told the Associated Press news agency, and have taken several people hostage.

"Our forces will go in and rescue the hostages," Ashour said.

At least one explosion rocked the building soon after the gunmen went in, starting a fire that swiftly spread through the lower floors, according to the officials.

Photos posted on social media show firefighters trying to evacuate people from the building's top floors, and wounded people being carried away from the scene.

The head of the company, Mustafa Sanallah, told a Libyan television channel that explosions and an exchange of gunfire between the attackers and the building's security guards have caused an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.

"The building was heavily damaged due to the fire. Smoke is everywhere," Sanallah said. "The gunmen attacked the lower floors with random shooting and explosions. It's a very violent attack."

Ahmed Ben Salem, a spokesperson for al-Redaa, an armed group that operates as Tripoli's police force, said the security forces were looking for the gunmen, but their "priority is to evacuate the civilians stuck inside".

An NOC staff who said he jumped out of a window to flee told Reuters that "several people were shot" during the attack.

No group has so far claimed the attack.

Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli, said there was a "state of panic" following the attack.

The special forces say their people have managed to get into the building and rescue many employees," he said.

"The masked men were armed with automatic rifles and stormed the main gate of the building. They shot at the security guards and used hand grenades," he said, citing security officials.

The attack on Monday came less than a week after a fragile truce suspended fierce clashes between rival armed groups in Tripoli, the latest eruption of violence in Libya, which has been in turmoil since a 2011 uprising.

In May, fighters affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claimed a deadly attack on the national election commission offices in Tripoli.

The group had also claimed an attack in 2015 on the Corinthia hotel, a landmark location in Tripoli. </s> Beirut [Lebanon], July 1 (ANI): Two bodyguards accompanying a Lebanese minister were killed and one other sustained injury after gunmen open fired on their convoy near country's capital Beirut on Sunday.

The incident took place in the Mount Lebanon town, when the convoy of Saleh al-Gharib, the minister of state handling refugee affairs, reportedly tried to pass through the blockades, which were placed to oppose a visit by Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil in the area, reported Al Arabiya.

The barricades were placed by the followers of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party (PSP). The party, in turn, has claimed that the minister's bodyguards fired on the protestors despite their attempts to open the road and remove the blockades.

In an interview with Lebanon's al-Jadeed TV, Gharib said that "what happened was an armed ambush and a clear assassination attempt."

The area where the incident took place is loyal to anti-Damascus Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a fierce opponent of the Syrian government.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has held a series of contacts with the Druze parties, security chiefs and Bassil to de-escalate the tensions between rival factions in the country. (ANI)
A motorcade carrying prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord, is attacked by unidentified gunmen in Tripoli. There were no injuries reported.