|
| A victim arrives at the Charles Nicoles hospital after gunmen attacked the National Bardo Museum in central Tunis, Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Gunmen opened fire Wednesday at a major museum in Tunisia's capital, killing scores of people, mostly foreigners, in one of the worst terrorist attacks in this struggling North African democracy that depends heavily on tourism. |
TUNIS, Tunisia
(AP) -- Foreign tourists scrambled in panic Wednesday after militants
stormed a museum in Tunisia's capital and killed 19 people, "shooting at
anything that moved," a witness said.
Two
gunmen were slain by security forces following the deadliest attack on
civilians in the North African country in 13 years, and the president
said the young democracy was embroiled in a war with terror.
The
militants, who wore military-style uniforms and wielded assault rifles,
burst from a vehicle and began gunning down tourists climbing out of
buses at the National Bardo Museum. The attackers then charged inside to
take hostages before being killed in a firefight with security forces.
Authorities
launched a manhunt for two or three accomplices in the attack. Prime
Minister Habib Essid said the two Tunisian gunmen killed 17 tourists -
five from Japan, four from Italy, two from Colombia, two from Spain, and
one each from Australia, Poland and France. The nationality of one dead
foreigner was not released. Essid said two Tunisian nationals also were
killed by the militants.
At least 44 people
were wounded, including tourists from Italy, France, Japan, South
Africa, Poland, Belgium and Russia, according to Essid and doctors from
Tunis' Charles Nicolle.
"I want the people of
Tunisia to understand firstly and lastly that we are in a war with
terror, and these savage minority groups will not frighten us," said
newly elected President Beji Caid Essebsi in an evening address to the
nation. "The fight against them will continue until they are
exterminated."
Tunisians overthrew their
dictator in 2011 and kicked off the Arab Spring that spread across the
region. While the uprising built a new democracy, the country has also
struggled with economic problems and attacks by extremists.
Essid identified the slain gunmen as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui.
Twitter
accounts associated with the extremist Islamic State group based in
Syria and Iraq were described as overjoyed at the attack, urging
Tunisians to "follow their brothers," according to Rita Katz of SITE, a
U.S.-based organization that monitors militant groups.
The
assault at the Bardo, Tunisia's largest museum that is housed in a 15th
century palace, began sometime after noon local time as scores of
European tourists were visiting.
Josep Lluis
Cusido, the mayor of the Spanish town of Vallmoll, said he saw people
being gunned down on the plaza outside the museum before the gunmen
moved inside.
"After they entered the museum. I
saw their faces: They were about 10 meters away from me, shooting at
anything that moved," Cusido told Spain's Cadena Ser radio station.
"I
managed to hide behind a pillar, there were unlucky people who they
killed right there," he said, adding that he and his wife spent nearly
three hours in the museum until they got out uninjured.
Dozens
of tourists scrambled from the museum linking arms or clutching
children as Tunisian police and security forces pointed their weapons at
the building. The museum, 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) from the city
center, is located near the national parliament building, which was
evacuated.
Some of the Italians at the museum
were believed to have been passengers from the Costa Fascinosa, a cruise
liner that had docked in Tunis while on a seven-day tour of the western
Mediterranean. Ship owner Costa Crociere confirmed that some of its
3,161 passengers were visiting Tunis and that a Bardo tour was on the
itinerary, but said it couldn't confirm how many were in the museum at
the time.
The Bardo, a popular tourist attraction, houses one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics among its 8,000 works.
On
Wednesday night, parliament held an extraordinary session where Speaker
Mohammed Ennaceur called for the creation of a special fund to combat
terrorism. He also called for the rapid passage of the anti-terror law
that parliament had been debating when the attack took place.
Hours
after the police ended the siege, thousands of Tunisians flocked to
downtown's landmark Bourguiba Avenue, where the revolution took place,
for a nighttime rally. They chanted for a "Free Tunisia" in defiance of
terrorism.
Essid said the attack was an
unprecedented assault on the economy. It came as Tunisia's all-important
tourism business was starting to rebuild after drastic losses following
the post-revolutionary turmoil. Numbers of arrivals for 2014 had begun
to approach the levels of 2010 - before the revolution.
It
was the worst attack in the country since an al-Qaida militant
detonated a truck bomb in front of a historic synagogue on the Tunisia's
island of Djerba in 2002, killing 21, mostly German tourists.
Tunisia
has been more stable than other countries in the region, but has
struggled with violence by Islamic extremists who have sworn allegiance
to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
A
disproportionately large number of Tunisian recruits - some 3,000,
according to government estimates - have joined Islamic State fighters
in Syria and Iraq and many have received training in neighboring Libya.
The
U.S. Embassy in Tunis was attacked in September 2012, seriously
damaging the embassy grounds and an adjoining American school. Four of
the assailants were killed.
Overall, though,
violence in Tunisia in recent years has been largely focused on security
forces, not foreigners or tourist sites.
In
October 2013, a young man blew himself up on a beach in the coastal town
of Sousse after being chased from a hotel, causing many to expect a new
wave of attacks on tourism. None materialized until now.
The
United States, France, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations
denounced the bloodshed. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said
Washington "condemns in the strongest possible terms today's deadly
terrorist attack" and praised Tunisia's "rapid response" to resolve the
hostage situation and restore calm.
Speaking
at the Louvre museum to call for international efforts to preserve the
heritage of Iraq and Syria against extremist destruction, French
President Francois Hollande said he had called Tunisia's president to
offer support and solidarity.
"Each time a terrorist crime is committed, we are all concerned," Hollande said.
North
Africa analyst Geoff Porter said an attack on a tourism site has long
been expected as the militants come under pressure from increasingly
effective Tunisian security forces.
"Today's
attack did not come out of nowhere. In fact, it comes amid ongoing
counterterrorism efforts elsewhere in the country," he said about the
attack. "Increasing pressure on terrorist activities ... may have
squeezed the balloon, with terrorists seeking softer targets with more
symbolic impact in the capital."
The attack
came the day after Tunisian security officials confirmed the death in
neighboring Libya of Ahmed Rouissi, leading suspect in Tunisian terror
attacks and in the killings of two opposition figures in Tunisia.
Rouissi
had become a field commander for the Islamic State in Libya and died
fighting near the town of Sirte, highlighting how Libya has increasingly
become a sanctuary for Tunisian radicals.
Tunisia
has repeatedly expressed concern over the security threat from Libya,
where central government has broken down since the 2011 ouster of
Moammar Gadhafi and is now run by competing militias.
