Tunisia curfew after blast kills presidential guards
Print Edition
TUNISIA’S President Beji Caid Essebsi yesterday declared a nationwide state of emergency and a curfew in the capital after a bomb attack on a bus carrying members of the presidential guard that killed 13 people.
He made the announcement in a brief televised address after canceling a trip to Switzerland, calling the incident “this painful event, this great tragedy.”
Presidential spokesman Moez Sinaoui said the 9pm-5am curfew would stay in place until further notice.
A security source at the site said “most of the agents who were on the bus are dead” after the attack in Tunis, which has become a target of jihadist violence since the 2011 revolution.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which a ministry official said also wounded 20 people when it went off on Mohamed V Avenue, just as this year’s 26th Carthage Film Festival was in full swing.
“The terrorist attack was committed using a backpack or vest containing 10 kilos of explosives,” an interior ministry statement said, without specifying whether it was a suicide bombing.
It said the guards killed in Tuesday’s attack had been identified based on their fingerprints.
“The 13th body is believed to be that of the terrorist who caused the explosion,” the ministry said. DNA tests were being carried out to identify the bomber.
The United States condemned the attack and offered to help the Tunisian authorities with their investigation.
US Secretary of State John Kerry “was proud to stand with Tunisian leaders earlier this month in Tunis and reaffirm our countries’ extensive economic, governance, and security cooperation,” a spokesman said.
The UN Security Council urged its members to help bring the perpetrators to justice, adding that “no terrorist attack can reverse the path of Tunisia towards democracy and its efforts towards economic recovery.”
Tunisia has been plagued by Islamist violence since the 2011 overthrow of former leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and dozens of members of the security forces have also been killed.
Two attacks this year claimed by the Islamic State group targeted foreigners — at the National Bardo Museum in March, killing 21 tourists and a policeman, and at a resort hotel in Sousse in June, killing 38 tourists.
A state of emergency was imposed after the Sousse killings and later renewed before being lifted at the beginning of October.
On Sunday, a jihadist group claimed the beheading of a young Tunisian shepherd on behalf of IS, accusing him of having informed the army about their movements in a central province.
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