Italians, Poles among those gunned down at tourist site
Print Edition
TUNISIA’S Prime Minister Habib Essid said 21 people were killed yesterday in an attack on a major museum in the capital Tunis, including 17 foreign tourists — and that two or three of the attackers remain at large.
The foreigners included tourists from Poland, Italy, Germany and Spain, he said.
Two of the attackers were killed in a gunfight with police, while security forces are hunting for two or three others believed to have been involved, he said.
The attack on the famed National Bardo Museum was the worst in years on a tourist site in Tunisia, which is struggling to prevent violence by Islamic extremists.
Seventeen foreigners were killed, as were a Tunisian security officer and a cleaning woman, the interior ministry spokesman said.
It wasn’t immediately clear who the attackers were but security forces immediately flooded the area. Tunisia’s parliament building, next to the museum, was evacuated.
Private television Wataniya showed masked Tunisian security forces escorting dozens of tourists up steps and away from the danger, as others pointed guns toward an adjacent building. Many elderly people, apparently tourists, ran in panic to safety.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said the standoff had ended.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry said three Poles were among the wounded while the Italian Foreign Ministry said at least two of its citizens had been wounded and 100 others had been taken to a secure location.
Some of the Italians in the museum were believed to have been passengers aboard the Costa Fascinosa, a cruise liner that had docked in Tunis. Its owner Costa Crociere confirmed that some of its 3,161 passengers were visiting the capital and that a tour of the Bardo was on the itinerary, but said it couldn’t confirm how many, if any, passengers were in the museum at the time.
Yesterday’s attack was a major blow to Tunisia’s efforts to revive its tourism industry.
The Bardo is the largest museum in Tunisia and houses one of the world’s largest collections of Roman mosaics.
“It is not by chance that today’s terrorism affects a country that represents hope for the Arab world. The hope for peace, the hope for stability, the hope for democracy. This hope must live,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement minutes after the crisis ended.
Tunisia has been more stable than other countries in the region, but has struggled with violence by Islamic extremists, including some linked to the Islamic State group. A large number of Tunisian recruits — about 3,000 — have joined Islamic State fighters.
Yesterday’s attack came a day after Tunisian security officials confirmed the death in neighboring Libya of a leading suspect in Tunisian terror attacks and the killings of two opposition figures in Tunisia.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
