Bardo National Museum attack | |
---|---|
Location | Tunis, Tunisia |
Date | 18 March 2015 12:30 CET [2] |
Target | Parliament of Tunisia Bardo National Museum |
Attack type | Mass shooting, hostage taking |
Weapons | |
Deaths | 24 (including 2 perpetrators) |
Injured | 42 [4] |
Perpetrators | Islamic State [4] |
Assailants | Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui (both killed) |
On 18 March 2015, two militants attacked the Bardo National Museum in the Tunisian capital city of Tunis, and took hostages. [5] Twenty-one people, mostly European tourists, were killed at the scene, and an additional victim died ten days later. Around fifty others were injured. [6] [7] [8] The two gunmen, Tunisian citizens Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, were killed by police. [9] Police treated the event as a terrorist attack. [10] [11]
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack, and threatened to commit further attacks. [12] However, the Tunisian government blamed a local splinter group of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, called the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade, for the attack. A police raid killed nine members ten days later. [13]
Since the removal from power of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the 2011 Tunisian Revolution, the country has faced occasional attacks from Islamist militants, mainly in remote areas. Tourism has been important to the nation's economy since its transition to democracy. [2]
The morning of the attack, the cruise ships MSC Splendida and Costa Fascinosa docked at the Port of La Goulette. [14] Some of the passengers on board the ships had decided to go to the Bardo Museum. [15] At the time of the attack, more than 200 tourists were present in the vicinity. [16]
The attack began at around 12:30 p.m. [2] At that time, security guards protecting the museum and the nearby Parliament building were absent on a coffee break. [17] The tourists were attacked as they were getting off a bus to enter the Bardo Museum compound. As scores of visitors ran toward the museum to avoid the shooting, the attackers pursued them and took them hostage inside. [18] [19] The siege lasted three hours, [20] ending when security forces breached the building and killed two of the attackers. One policeman was fatally shot during the rescue operation. [13] [21]
Tunisian security forces escorted dozens of tourists up nearby steps and away from the danger, as armed agents pointed guns toward an adjacent building. Many tourists ran in panic to safety, including at least one couple carrying two children. [22]
During the attack, members of Parliament were discussing counter-terrorist legislation when they were ordered to evacuate the building due to the sound of gunfire. [23] They were later forced to lie down on the ground as security forces commenced the rescue operation of hostages. [24]
According to analyst Rita Katz of the SITE Intelligence Group, holders of Twitter accounts associated with ISIL were overjoyed at the attack, urging Tunisians to "follow their brothers". [25] The day following the attack, the Islamic State group issued a statement claiming responsibility for the incident and promising further attacks. [12] Meanwhile, a Twitter account linked to the Islamic State published a photograph of one of the Italian victims; the image, showing Francesco Caldara, has a red cross drawn on it and the words: "Crusader Crushed." [26]
Anti-terrorism protests began in central Tunis after the attack, with crowds reportedly chanting, "Tunisia is free, terrorism out." [27] On 24 March, nearly a week after the attack, the museum held a ceremonial reopening. Simultaneously, thousands of Tunisians and tourists staged a march in Tunis to show their solidarity with the slain victims. [28]
On 29 March, tens of thousands of demonstrators, along with French President François Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and several other world leaders, marched in Tunis under the slogan The World Is Bardo (Le Monde est Bardo) to protest terrorism. [13] [29]
Country | Number |
---|---|
France | 4 |
Italy | 4 |
Japan | 3 |
Poland | 3 |
Colombia | 2 |
Spain | 2 |
Tunisia | 1 |
Belgium | 1 |
Russia | 1 |
United Kingdom | 1 |
Total | 22 |
When the attack ended, nineteen foreign tourists, [7] [23] including four Italians, [30] [31] three French nationals, [32] three Japanese, [33] three Polish nationals, [34] two Spaniards, [35] [36] [37] two Colombians (including one with dual Australian citizenship), [35] one Russian, [38] and one British national [39] were found to have been killed. [40] A Tunisian police officer, and two perpetrators were also reported dead. [7] [23] On 28 March, an injured French woman, Huguette Dupeu, died of her wounds at a hospital. [32] [41]
Over 50 other people were injured, many of them foreign tourists. [42] MSC Crociere S.A. reported that nine of its guests had been killed, and twelve were injured; six visitors, all from MSC Splendida, including two Spaniards, one Belgian, one British national, one French national, and one Japanese were killed. [15] The cruise company said that it would not schedule any further visits to the Port of La Goulette in 2015, [43] choosing Malta as a replacement. [44]
Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, both Tunisian citizens, were identified by Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid as the two slain gunmen a day after the attack. [45] Prior to the attack, Labidi lived in the Tunis neighborhood of Ibn Khaldoun, while Khachnaoui was from Kasserine. [46] Labidi moved after the Jasmine Revolution to Sfax for work, and lived there until his death. [47] He worked as a deliveryman for a local business prior to the attack. [48] While Labidi was known to intelligence services, neither of the two men had previously been positively linked to known Tunisian terrorist organisations. [49]
An operation looking for up to three suspected accomplices was launched immediately following the attack. [1] On the following day, nine people were arrested, four for direct links to the cell which carried out the shooting and five for having indirect links to it. [50] Their roles in the attack have not yet been clarified. [51] On 21 March, the number of people arrested reached over twenty, with ten accused of having direct links to the museum attack. [52] On 26 March, authorities arrested twenty-three members of a terror cell linked to the attack.[ citation needed ]
According to BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, an al-Qaeda operative claimed the men had spent two months training with militants in Derna, Libya. [50] On 20 March, Tunisian Security Minister Rafik Chelly announced that Labidi and Khachnaoui had received weapons training in Libya from an unspecified group prior to carrying out the attack. [53] According to authorities, they managed to slip past the border to Libya undetected in December. [48]
On 28 March, Tunisian police killed Lokman Abu Sakhra, an Algerian suspected of planning the attack, along with eight other armed men during a raid in the southern Gafsa region. They were allegedly major members of the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade, a splinter group of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said, "[T]he nine were among the most dangerous terrorists in Tunisia." Sakhra was said to be the leader of the group. The Tunisian government said the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade was responsible for the attack, despite claims of responsibility made by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. [13] [54] [55]
On 20 May, 22-year-old Moroccan illegal immigrant Abdelmajid Touil was arrested in Italy on allegations that he aided the attackers. [56]
In December 2017 US Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson named Wanas al-Faqih and two other men, as terrorists. [57] On January 4, 2018, when the State Department listed al-Faqih on its list of globally designated terrorists they described him as having planned the Bardo Museum attack. [58] [59] [60]
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi announced via Facebook that he would address the nation later that day. [23] In his address, he called the attack a "huge disaster" and called for Tunisia to prevent such an attack in the future, [27] further saying that the country was in a "war against terrorism". [61] He also pledged for the quick passage of an anti-terrorism law. [62] Prime Minister Habib Essid issued a statement on the "cowardly" attack and called for unity, [24] later chairing an emergency cabinet meeting. [23] Essebsi also praised Akil, a one-and-a-half-year-old German Shepherd police dog who was killed in the raid, saying, "It's a victim we don't talk about but it's a heavy loss." [63] On the day following the attack, Essebsi ordered the deployment of Tunisian troops to the country's major cities as a security precaution. [64]
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop called the incident a "terrorist attack on a fledgling democracy", and Prime Minister Tony Abbott sent his condolences to the family of an Australian killed in the attack. [42] British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described the killings as a "cowardly terrorist attack", whilst Prime Minister David Cameron described the incident as "appalling and brutal". [65] Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos lamented the death of the two Colombians killed in the attack and expressed his solidarity with their families; [66] the foreign ministry added a statement. [42] French Prime Minister Manuel Valls condemned the attack. [67] Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi condemned the attack and emphasized that Italy is close to the Tunisian government. [68] President Sergio Mattarella condemned the attack as "a fact of unprecedented violence". [69] The Japanese government condemned the attack as "despicable", while Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, in addition to his own condemnation, stated that Tokyo was working to collect further information. [42] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain condemned the attack in a press release. [70]
Condolences and outrage were expressed by other states, including the Holy See, [71] Mexico, [72] the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, [73] Singapore, [74] Syria, [75] Turkey, [76] and the United States. [77]
On 4 March 2019, a memorial to the British victim and those of the 2015 Sousse attacks, called Infinite Wave , was unveiled in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, England, by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. [78] [79]
The 2002 Mombasa attacks were a two-pronged terrorist attack on 28 November 2002 in Mombasa, Kenya against an Israeli-owned hotel and a plane belonging to Arkia Airlines. An all-terrain vehicle crashed through a barrier outside the Paradise Hotel and blew up, killing 13 and injuring 80. At the same time, attackers fired two surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli charter plane. The Paradise Hotel was the only Israeli-owned hotel in the Mombasa area. The attacks were believed to be orchestrated by al-Qaeda operatives in Somalia in an attempt to disrupt the Israeli tourist industry on the African continent. Much speculation has occurred as to who the perpetrators are, but no complete list of suspects has been defined. The attack was the second al-Qaeda terrorist operation in Kenya, following the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi in 1998. Following the attack, the UN Security Council and other nations condemned the bombing.
The Ghriba synagogue bombing was carried out by Niser bin Muhammad Nasr Nawar on the El Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia in 2002.
Terrorism in Saudi Arabia has mainly been attributed to Islamic extremists. Their targets included foreign civilians—Westerners affiliated with its oil-based economy—as well as Saudi Arabian civilians and security forces. Anti-Western attacks have occurred in Saudi Arabia dating back to 1995. Saudi Arabia itself has been accused of funding terrorism in other countries, including Syria.
Terrorism in Egypt in the 20th and 21st centuries has targeted the Egyptian government officials, Egyptian police and Egyptian army members, tourists, Sufi Mosques and the Christian minority. Many attacks have been linked to Islamic extremism, and terrorism increased in the 1990s when the Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya targeted high-level political leaders and killed hundreds – including civilians – in its pursuit of implementing traditional Sharia law in Egypt.
The following is a list of attacks which have been carried out by Al-Qaeda.
An Islamist insurgency is taking place in the Maghreb region of North Africa, followed on from the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002. The Algerian militant group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) allied itself with al-Qaeda to eventually become al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Algerian and other Maghreb governments fighting the militants have worked with the United States and the United Kingdom since 2007, when Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara began.
The Bardo National Museum or Bardo Palace is a museum of Tunis, Tunisia, located in the suburbs of Le Bardo.
Mohammed Abdel Karim Al Ghezali is a citizen of Yemen who was one of the founders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in 2009, and remains one of its senior leaders. CBS News reported that Al Ghezali appeared in a September 2009 fund-raising video with Said Ali Al Shiri, the second in command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization that aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it is currently engaged in an insurgency campaign in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.
The 2014 Farafra ambush occurred on 19 July 2014 when unidentified gunmen ambushed a desert checkpoint in the Farafra Oasis Road in Egypt's New Valley Governorate. Twenty-two border guards were killed in the attack, which was one of the biggest since the July 2013 ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the second at the same checkpoint in less than three months.
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in the Tunisian Republic.
The World Is Bardo was the slogan and theme of a peaceful, anti-terrorist rally and march that took place on 29 March 2015 in Tunis, Tunisia. Thousands of Tunisians came out to protest the 18 March Bardo National Museum terrorist attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and to express support for the victims. Many world leaders participated to the event including François Hollande, Matteo Renzi, Bronisław Komorowski, Mahmoud Abbas, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Abdelmalek Sellal, Charles Michel, Abdullah al-Theni, Federica Mogherini and Beji Caid Essebsi.
On 26 June 2015, a mass shooting occurred at the tourist resort at Port El Kantaoui, about 10 kilometres north of the city of Sousse, Tunisia. Thirty-eight people, 30 of whom were British, were killed when a gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, attacked a hotel. It was the deadliest non-state attack in the history of modern Tunisia, with more fatalities than the 22 killed in the Bardo National Museum attack three months before. The attack received widespread condemnation around the world. The Tunisian government later "acknowledged fault" for slow police response to the attack.
On 24 November 2015, a bus carrying Tunisian presidential guards exploded, killing 12, on a principal road in Tunis, Tunisia. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomber, who also died in the attack, was identified as Houssem Abdelli.
The Battle of Ben Guerdane occurred on March 7, 2016, in the city of Ben Gardane in Tunisia on the border with Libya. Islamic State forces attempted to seize the city, but were repulsed by the Tunisian military. The clashes continued also on 8 and 9 of March in the area.
On 13 March 2016, three Islamist gunmen opened fire at a beach resort in Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast, killing at least 19 people and injuring 33 others.
The Islamic State Insurgency in Tunisia referred to the low–level militant and terror activity of the Islamic State branch in Tunisia from 2015 to 2022. The activity of the Islamic State (IS) in Tunisia began in June 2015, with the Sousse attacks, though an earlier terror incident in Bardo Museum in March 2015 was claimed by ISIL, while the Tunisian government blamed Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade for the attack. Following massive border clashes near Ben Guerdane in March 2016, the activity of the IS group was described as an armed insurgency, switching from previous tactics of sporadic suicide attacks to attempts to gain territorial control. The armed insurgency was suppressed in 2022.
On 18 December 2016, a series of shootings took place in the city of Al-Karak in southern Jordan. The attack started in the vicinity of Al-Karak where a group of unidentified militants ambushed emergency responders and then moved into the city, attacking police patrols and the local police station and finally seeking shelter in the historic Crusader-era Kerak Castle, a popular tourist attraction.
Nineteen people were killed and 25 others were injured when suspected jihadists opened fire on a Turkish restaurant and hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 13 August 2017. Police cornered the attackers, who took hostages and then were killed in an ensuing shootout.
On 1 February 2008, at least three gunmen who allegedly belonged to the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb opened fire outside the Israeli embassy in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Armed with rifles and grenades, they injured three bystanders. Eight suspects were later arrested.
Acting under the authority of and in accordance with section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, as amended by Executive Order 13268 of July 2, 2002, and Executive Order 13284 of January 23, 2003, I hereby determine that the person known as Wanas al-Faqih committed, or poses a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.
These designations impose strict sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. Among the consequences of these designations, all of their property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.
State listed the three al Qaeda figures as Wanas al-Faqih from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abukar Ali Adan from Shabaab (al Qaeda's branch in East Africa), and Muhammad Al Ghazali from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The three al Qaeda branches wage insurgencies in their respective regions while continuing to plot terrorist attacks elsewhere, including against Western interests.
Two other al-Qaeda leaders – Muhammad al-Ghazali (in Arabian Peninsula) and Wanas al-Faqih (in Islamic Maghreb) – were also added to terrorists' list. 'Al-Ghazali is involved in internal security and training of the group's operatives,' the US State Department said.