27 dead in Tunisia tourist resort attack

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The body of one of the victims at the Tunisian resort attack. (Courtesy: Twitter)

By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya News
Friday, 26 June 2015

A gunman opened fire at tourists at a beach resort in Tunisia on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead, including foreigners, in what the authorities branded a “terrorist attack”.

Witnesses described scenes of panic and confusion after the shooting at a hotel in the district of Sousse, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Tunis.

The toll from the attack is “27 dead including tourists,” Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said without giving their nationalities.

“It was a terrorist attack” against the Marhaba hotel, he said. “The assailant was killed.”

British tourist, Gary Pine said he was on the beach and heard what “we thought was firecrackers going off” 100 yards away, followed by an explosion from the next hotel complex along.


A picture distributed on social media shows two dead bodies lying near a deckchair on the beach (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

“There was a mass exodus off the beach,” he told Sky News. He said his son said he had seen someone being shot on the beach.

He said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby.

Tunisia's Interior Ministry told journalists two gunmen had opened fire on a beach near two hotels in the coastal resort city of Sousse. Interior Ministry Spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said that one of the gunmen was killed and police are pursuing the other.


The body of one of the gunmen lies on the ground after a deadly attack on two Tunisian hotels. (Courtesy: Twitter).

Irish tourist Elizabeth O'Brien, told Ireland’s RTE Radio she grabbed her two sons and ran for their lives when they heard gunfire.

She said: “We were on the beach, my sons were in the sea and I just got out of the sea.

“It was about 12 o’clock and I just looked up about 500 meters from me and I saw a (hot air) balloon collapse down, then rapid firing, then I saw two of the people who were going to go up in the balloon start to run towards me - because I thought it was fireworks.


A photo on social media shows Tunisian security forces on the beach at one of the resorts (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

“So, I thought ‘oh my God, it sounds like gunfire,’ so I just ran to the sea to my children and grabbed our things and as I was running towards the hotel, the waiters and the security on the beach started saying ‘run, run run’ and we just ran to our room, which is like a little bungalow.”

Sousse is one of the North African country’s most popular beach resorts, drawing tourists from Europe and neighboring countries.

Tunisia has been high alert since Islamist gunmen attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis in March, killing a group of foreign visitors.

Tunisia has been on high alert since March when Islamist militant gunmen attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing a group of foreign tourists in one of the worst attacks in a decade in the North African country.

(With Agencies)

Last Update: Friday, 26 June 2015 KSA 17:03 - GMT 14:03

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2015/06/26/At-least-seven-killed-in-attack-on-two-Tunisian-beach-hotels.html

 

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Tunisian builder hailed a hero for hurling bricks at ISIS gunman

After killing scores of tourists in the beach side town the shooter tried to escape through an alley where Munsaf Mayyel saw him from the rooftop of one of the buildings he was working on. (Photo courtesy: YouTube)

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Sunday, 28 June 2015

A Tunisian man is being hailed a hero after he hurled bricks at the gunman who went on a shooting rampage in the Tunisian coastal city of Sousse killing 38 people earlier this week.

After killing scores of tourists in the beach side town the shooter tried to escape through an alley where Munsaf Mayyel saw him from the rooftop of one of the buildings he was working on, according to Channel 4 News.


The builder then grabbed ceramic tiles and threw them at the gunman, hurting the assailant.

“All I did was my duty. The duty of any Tunisian and any Muslim,” Mayyel told the British news channel.

The attacker, who was killed by security forces, was identified as Seifeddine Rezgui, a young student at Kairouan University.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, carried by the 23-year-old.

Tunisia's prime minister announced on Saturday a string of new security measures including closing renegade mosques and calling up army reservists as thousands of tourists fled the North African country in wake of its worst terrorist attack ever, the Associated Press reported.

“The fight against terrorism is a national responsibility,” Prime Minister Habib Essid said.

“We are at war against terrorism which represents a serious danger to national unity during this delicate period that the nation is going through.”

Last Update: Sunday, 28 June 2015 KSA 12:29 - GMT 09:29
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2015/06/28/Tunisian-builder-hailed-a-hero-for-hurling-bricks-at-ISIS-gunman.html

 

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Tunisia weighs new security approach as tourists flee

British tourists leave Tunisia at the Enfidha International airport on June 27, 2015. (AFP)

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2015/06/28/Tunisia-weighs-new-security-approach-as-tourists-flee-.html

 

[Diane Lane]

Terrorism sure is a tourism killer. Great stories, I haven't seen these elsewhere, thanks for posting them. It's good to hear that people aren't afraid to approach and confront those who are doing harm to others. I can't imagine tourism would be the same for quite a while, until memories fade, but beefing up protocol might help speed the process.

 

[Corzhens]

Oh, oh, another terrorist act perpetrated by ISIS? Will the terrorism never stop? The whole world is peppered with isolated terrorist attacks like you don't see them as isolated anymore. Not having a pattern, yes, but the occurrence is getting to be an ordinary thing. That killing in Tunisia is sickening. Those innocent people dying in that act, what a waste of lives.