At least 8 tourists killed, others hostage in Tunisia parliament attack

[Ishmael]

Seven foreigners and a Tunisian were killed in an attack at the country's leading museum Wednesday, according to media reports.

The eight were killed in a shooting at the Bardo Museum which neighbors the country's parliament in the capital Tunis, the Associated Press and the BBC reported.

Private radio station Mosaique FM earlier reported that three men dressed in military-style clothing may have taken hostages inside the museum, according to the AP.

Reuters, citing the TAP state news agency, had reported that exchanges of gunfire were heard at the parliament building, but did not give further details. The Al Arabiya News Channel reported that the shots were fired while the parliament was in session.

Tunisia has struggled with violence by Islamic extremists since mass protests ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Reuters said an unnamed witness near the parliament told it that a large police presence was moving to evacuate the building.

The Bardo museum chronicles Tunisia's history and includes one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics, according to the AP.


Source: BBC

 

[Mwanamwana]

Seven foreign tourists and one Tunisian among the dead, after three men reportedly dressed in military-style clothing storm Bardo museum in Tunis.

At least eight people have been killed in Tunisia after gunmen opened fire at one of the country's leading tourist attractions in the capital, Tunis.

Interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told the Wataniya TV station that seven of the dead were foreign tourists and one was Tunisian. Poland's foreign ministry said that three Poles were among the six wounded.

The shooting broke out about midday local time (11am GMT), at the Bardo national museum, according to local reports.

Radio Mosaique, a private radio station, reported that three men dressed in military-style clothing may have taken hostages inside the museum, adjacent to the national parliament building.

Live Eight reported dead in terror attack at Tunisian museum - live updates

Tunisian foreign ministry confirms seven foreigners and one Tunisian have been killed in an attack at the Bardo museum, adjacent to the parliament building in Tunis
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The Bardo, which chronicles Tunisia's history and includes one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics, is one of the country's biggest tourist attractions.

Tunisian security forces were surrounding two militants holed up inside the Bardo museum that shares grounds with the country's parliament on Wednesday, an interior ministry spokesman said.

He said security forces were still verifying local media reports that the militants had taken tourists hostage during an attack on the parliament building.

In a defiant tweet one MP, Sayida Ounissi, said: "We are not afraid", adding that Tunisia's parliament had been evacuated.




The attack on the museum came just days after the death of Ahmed Al-Rouissi, a Tunisian, also known as Abou Zakariya Al-Tunisi, who led a contingent of Islamic State (IS) troops in Libya. He was killed in clashes with Libyan troops near the town of Sirte, a stronghold of followers of Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan strongman.

Tunisian commentators speculated that there may be a connection between his death and today's deadly attack, which could badly damage tourism, upon which the country relies heavily.

Last month, Tunisia arrested over 30 suspected militants, some of whom were returning from fighting in Syria, who were planning "spectacular" attacks, officials said at the time. Interior ministry officials said counterterrorism forces had prevented attacks against "vital installations", including the interior ministry and civilian buildings in Tunis.

The assault on the museum poses an early and severe challenge for the new secular-Islamist coalition cabinet led by prime minister Habib Essid, which took office last month. It already faced the problem of a proliferation of armed groups that emerged after the 2011 uprising that overthrew Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Tunisia is a major source of fighters travelling to Syria., with the number of Tunisians fighting in Syria estimated at about 3,000. A few hundred have returned to Tunisia and many have been tracked down and arrested.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/18/eight-people-killed-in-attack-on-tunisia-bardo-museum

 

[morphine]

mhh hatari namna hii :disapointed: