A damaged cabin is seen outside the South Korean embassy after it was attacked by gunmen in Tripoli yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Unidentified gunmen fired shots at the South Korean embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli yesterday killing two local security guards, South Korean and Libyan officials said.

Militants claiming loyalty to Islamic State said they were behind the attack, according to a statement on social media. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.

The gunmen fired from a car at the embassy compound, killing two security officers who were Libyan government employees and wounding another, Tripoli security spokesman Essam Naas said.

A South Korean foreign ministry official in Seoul said the embassy was staffed by two foreign service officials and one administrative staff member. He said the government was considering relocating it, but did not elaborate.

Libyan militants professing loyalty to Islamic State have claimed several high-profile attacks on foreigners in Libya this year, including an assault on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli and the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians. They have also claimed several attacks on embassies in Tripoli from where most countries have pulled out diplomatic staff due to the security situation.

Meanwhile 10 people were killed in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi in fighting between army forces and Islamist groups, medics said late on Saturday.

Islamic State behind attack

A tank battalion and armed youths fought with forces belonging to the Majlis al-Shura, a collection of armed groups including Islamist militants, in a southern district for much of Friday, army officials said.

As well as the 10 soldiers killed, some 55 were wounded, medics said, when much of the city was quiet after gunfire had been heard in several districts the day before.

The fighting mirrors the wider struggle in the oil-producing North African state where two governments and parliaments, allied to rival armed groups, are vying for control almost four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

The unrecognised government, which controls the capital Tripoli, in western Libya, has pledged to back the Islamists in the east after the forces of the internationally recognised government launched an offensive against them in October. The army, which is loyal to the official government, expelled the Islamists from the airport area and from several camps the army had lost during the summer.

But fighting has been raging on in several other parts.

The recognised Prime Minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, was forced to leave Tripoli in August for the eastern city of Bayda when a group called Libya Dawn seized the capital. The Tripoli government, which is backed by some Islamist groups, said it would support Majlis al-Shura.

Part of Majlis al-Shura is the Islamist militant group of Ansar al-Sharia, blamed by Washington for an assault on the US consulate in Benghazi 2012, which killed the US ambassador.