IS claims responsibility for Tunis museum attack as more victims identified
PUBLISHED : Friday, 20 March, 2015, 1:31pm
UPDATED : Friday, 20 March, 2015, 7:02pm
Agence France-Presse in Tunis
The mother of the Tunisian policeman shot dead in the Bardo Museum attack becomes emotional during a tribute to her son. Photo: AFP
The Islamic State jihadist group has claimed responsibility for an attack on foreign tourists at Tunisia’s national, as authorities swooped in to arrest the suspects and as more of the 21 dead were identified.
In an audio message posted online, IS said that “two knights from the Islamic State ... heavily armed with automatic weapons and grenades, targeted the Bardo Museum” in the capital.
The group, which has hundreds of Tunisians among its ranks, threatened more attacks, saying: “What you have seen is only the start.”
The authorities said they had identified the two dead gunmen behind Wednesday’s assault, which prompted calls for a show of national unity against extremism in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
The president’s office said security forces arrested “four people directly linked to the [terrorist] operation and five suspected of having ties to the cell”. Prime Minister Habib Essid named the two gunmen killed by security forces at the museum as Yassine Abidi and Hatem Khachnaoui, and that Abidi had been flagged by police.
The interior ministry said it was likely the gunmen were Tunisian.
Tunisian police make a final tribute to their comrade Aymen Morjane in the barracks of Bouchoucha, a day after he was killed in an attack at Tunisia's national Bardo Museum. Photo: AFP
Panic had broken out on Wednesday after gunmen, clad in military uniforms, opened fire at visitors as they got off a bus and then chased them inside the museum.
President Beji Caid Essebsi told France’s TF1 television said the heavily armed assailants had been carrying explosives. “We found terrible explosives on those people that they did not have time [to use],” he said, adding that the police response prevented further bloodshed.
It was the worst attack on foreigners in Tunisia since an al-Qaeda suicide bombing of a synagogue killed 21 people on the island of Djerba in 2002.
Twelve of those killed were part of a cruise tour, according to Italian cruise companies MSC Cruises and Costa Crociere. They said yesterday that another 20 of their guests were wounded and eight were still missing.
Among the dead were Colombians Javier Camelo, 28, and his mother, Miriam Martinez. Camelo also held Australian citizenship and lived in Sydney, where he worked for American Express.
He had recently finished an MBA degree in Madrid and travelled to Tunisia with his parents and a brother to celebrate his graduation, according to press reports in Colombia.
Outraged protesters hold up the Tunisian national flag at a rally against terrorism in front of the Bardo National Museum, the site of a deadly assault that killed 21 people. Photo: Kyodo
Husband and father Jose Arturo Camelo, a retired Colombian army general, who survived the tragedy, said: “These are things you never anticipate. I’m in a very bad state.”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed that three Japanese nationals were killed, while another three were injured.
Among the victims was Tokyo resident Machiyo Narusawa, 66, who was enjoying a holiday cruise with her husband.
Narusawa’s husband did not want to leave his wife’s body alone and asked the hospital to allow him to be there until her remains are readied for repatriation to Japan, Kyodo news reported.
Mother and daughter Chiemi Miyazaki, 49, and Haruka, 22, were celebrating the latter’s college graduation after getting a degree in food nutrition. They were close and were good travelling companions, and the younger Miyazaki had a keen interest in Turkish food, according to people who knew them.
The gunmen also claimed the lives of Spanish couple Antonio Cirera Perez, 75, and Dolors Sanchez Rami, 73, from Barcelona, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a cruise offered to them by their family.
A trail of blood covers a large area of pavement close to the visitors' entrance of the National Bardo Museum in Tunis. Photo: EPA
French former local council member Jean-Claude Tissier, 72; Italian Francesco Caldara, 64; British lawyer Sally Jane Adley, 57; and Turin resident Orazio Conte were also identified as among those killed.
One Tunisian policeman, Aymen Morjane, was also shot dead. Poland and Australia also claimed casualties.
Some were able to escape unharmed. A Spanish couple – including a four-month pregnant woman – were found alive yesterday after spending the night hiding inside the Bardo with a museum guard.
Around 200 demonstrators gathered Thursday outside the museum where the attack killed 20 foreigners and at least one Tunisian, chanting “Terrorism Out” and laying down flowers at the entrance.
Tunisia kicked off the Arab Spring and has taken pride in forming a democratic government and achieving stability -- in marked contrast to neighbours such as Egypt and Libya.
The museum attack has dealt a heavy blow to Tunisia’s crucial tourism industry and Essebsi urged foreign visitors not to stay away.
“They can come in absolute safety,” he said, adding that it would be a show of solidarity with Tunisians. He said it would also “send a message to the terrorists” that people will not give into fear.
Authorities say as many as 3,000 Tunisians have gone to Iraq, Syria and Libya to fight in jihadist ranks, raising fears of battle-hardened militants returning home to plot attacks.
The presidency said soldiers are to be deployed in major cities following the museum assault, but “we are not under siege”, a presidential source said.
Tunisia has seen an upsurge in Islamist extremism since the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring uprisings around the region.
