A car bomb targeted the French Embassy in the Libyan capital Tuesday, wounding two French guards and a Libyan teenager and underscoring the central government's inability to stop the oil-rich North African nation's slide toward deepening lawlessness.
There have been several attacks on diplomatic missions in Benghazi, but Tuesday's was the first in Tripoli since the civil war ended.
On Sept. 11, four Americans -- including the US Ambassador in Libya Chris Stevens -- were killed when militants attacked the US diplomatic mission in the eastern city.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the French Embassy in Tripoli, but many blamed either Islamic extremists avenging France's military intervention in Mali or militias seeking to send a message that they're winning the struggle for control and that cracking down on them only backfires.
French President Francois Hollande denounced the attack as an assault not only on France but all countries engaged in the fight against terrorism.