fbpx
Wikipedia

2015 Sousse attacks

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.[1][2] Thirty-eight people, 30 of whom were British, were killed when a gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, attacked a hotel.[6] 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.[7] The attack received widespread condemnation around the world.[8] The Tunisian government later "acknowledged fault" for slow police response to the attack.[9]

2015 Sousse attacks
Part of 2015 Ramadan attacks and ISIL insurgency in Tunisia
The Hotel Imperial Marhaba in Sousse in 2004
Sousse
LocationRiu Imperial Marhaba and Soviva, Port El Kantaoui, Sousse, Tunisia[1][2]
Coordinates35°54′43.52″N 10°34′48.1″E / 35.9120889°N 10.580028°E / 35.9120889; 10.580028
Date26 June 2015[1]
c. 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.[3] (GMT+1)
TargetEuropean tourists staying at a hotel[1][2]
Weapons
Deaths39 (including the perpetrator)[4]
Injured39[1]
PerpetratorsSeifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Libya Province[5]

Background edit

In October 2013, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a botched attack on a Sousse beach while security forces foiled another planned attack nearby.[10] The post-Tunisian revolution led to the 2014 parliamentary election in which the principal secularist party gained a plurality but was unable to govern alone, and ultimately formed a national unity government. Secularist Beji Caid Essebsi was elected president in the 2014 Tunisian presidential election.[11] Since the overthrow of Tunisian president Ben Ali, terrorism increased, leading to 60 victims among security and military troops. Other attacks targeted civilians and tourists. Despite this, Tunisia was considered to be a secure country.[12]

On 18 March 2015, the Bardo National Museum in Tunis was attacked by three terrorists, leading to the deaths of twenty-two people, including twenty foreigners visiting the museum. Two of the gunmen, Tunisian citizens Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, were killed by police, while the third attacker is currently at large.[13] Police treated the event as a terrorist attack.[14][15] The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack, and threatened to commit further attacks.[16] 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 on 28 March.[17] After the Bardo attack, the government announced new security measures and declared the country safe again.[12]

Attack edit

On 26 June 2015 the Spanish-owned five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel at Port El Kantaoui, a tourist complex situated on the coast about ten kilometres north of Sousse, Tunisia, was hosting 565 guests, mainly from Western Europe, 77% of its capacity.[18] Tourists from the hotel as well as from the Soviva Hotel located nearby went to the beach.[19]

At around noon, Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi, disguised as a tourist,[20] socialised with others, and then took out a Kalashnikov assault rifle concealed in a beach umbrella and fired at the tourists on the beach. He entered the hotel, shooting at people he came across.[18] He was killed by security forces during an exchange of fire.[18][21][22] All bullets were found to have been fired from the one weapon; the attacker had four magazines of ammunition.[23][24] The attacker had spoken to his father on a mobile telephone which he then threw into the sea during the attack; it was retrieved.[24]

An Interior Ministry spokesman said that they were sure that others helped but did not participate directly, providing the Kalashnikov and helping Rezgui to the scene.[24]

Victims edit

Nationality Deaths Wounded Total Ref.
  United Kingdom 30 26 56 [25]
  Republic of Ireland 3 0 3 [26][27]
  Germany 2 1 3 [28][29]
  Belgium 1 3 4 [30]
  Russia 1 1 2 [31][32]
  Portugal 1 0 1 [33][34]
  Tunisia 0 7 7 [30]
  Ukraine 0 1 1 [35]
Total 38 39 77 [31]

Thirty-eight people were killed, 30 of whom were British.[2][22] Among the fatalities was Denis Thwaites, a former professional footballer for Birmingham City, and his wife, Elaine.[36] Victims also included people from three generations of one family: Adrian Evans, Patrick Evans and Joel Richards.[37]

Thirty-nine people were also wounded.[18][38][39][40]

Perpetrator and associates edit

The killer, Seifiddine Rezgui Yacoubi, also known as Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani,[41] (29 August 1992 – 26 June 2015[42]) was a 22-year-old electrical engineering student at University of Kairouan from Gaâfour, in northwest Tunisia.[43] He did not have the typical traits of an Islamic extremist: he had a girlfriend, drank alcohol and was a local break-dancing star. He was also believed to be high on cocaine during his rampage.[43][44] He is believed to have been radicalized over such issues as the Libyan Civil War and Western inaction against the Assad government during the Syrian Civil War.[45]

Rezgui is thought to have been recruited by Ajnad al-Khilafah,[46] an outgrowth of the Tunisian branch of Ansar al-Sharia, which was founded by Seifallah Ben Hassine, who had lived in the UK in the 1990s and whose mentor during that time was Abu Qatada.[47] High Court papers relating to a control order placed on a British-based suspect state that Ben Hassine "aimed to recruit new members and send them to Afghanistan for training".[46] The control order documents add that: "Abu Qatada appears as a watermark running through the whole of this case as being the mastermind."[46]

Ben Hassine is reported to have been killed by the USAF near Adjabiya in eastern Libya on 14 June 2015. The strike was designed to kill Mokhtar Belmokhtar in an Ansar meeting. After the overthrow of Tunisia's President Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali in 2011, Ben Hassine was released from jail in March 2011 under an amnesty, and later founded Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, which resisted proscription until 2013 arguing it was carrying out humanitarian work, even though Ben Hassine personally had led the storming of the US Embassy in Tunis on 14 September 2012, three days after Ansar's Libyan counterparts killed US ambassador J. Christopher Stevens in Benghazi, Libya. When Ansar was finally outlawed in August 2013, after the murders of two secular leftist MPs, he was listed as a proscribed terrorist by the United States, and he fled to Libya.[48][49]

Qatada wrote in a letter published online in January 2014 that Ben Hassine "is among the best of those I have known in intellect" and "the most knowledgeable of people of my intentions ... for he was the closest of people to me".[46]

In January 2017, documents obtained by Panorama identified Chamseddine al-Sandi as the orchestrator behind the attack. He is named in confessions from suspects who were arrested in connection with the shootings. Rezgui was killed at the scene, but the documents obtained by Panorama say that he was recruited and directed by al-Sandi. The confessions say al-Sandi ran a militant cell responsible for both the Sousse shootings and the attack three months earlier at the Bardo National Museum in which 22 people died. Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State.[50]

Aftermath edit

Immediately after the attack, the flight JAF5017, on its way to Enfidha-Hammamet International Airport, was redirected to Brussels.[18] German tour operator TUI offered German tourists the opportunity to fly back to Germany and to cancel or adjust their bookings in Tunisia.[51] British tour operator Thomson announced that flights to Tunisia would be cancelled until at least 9 July 2015,[52][53] with ten flights departing on the evening of the attacks to bring 2,500 customers in the resort back to the United Kingdom.[54] EasyJet and Thomas Cook announced that customers planning to visit Tunisia would be able to change their travel plans free of charge.[55]

Hotels were targeted in attacks to undermine tourism and because they were considered "brothels" by ISIS.[56] Both tourism and the related industries accounted for up to 14.9% of the Tunisian economy in 2014.[citation needed]

The United Kingdom's Home Secretary Theresa May and Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood visited the site of the shooting on 29 June 2015. It was also announced that a Royal Air Force aircraft would be sent to repatriate bodies and evacuate the injured back to the UK.[57] On 29 June an RAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster III flew from RAF Brize Norton to Tunisia to recover four British victims, with the C17 returning via Birmingham Airport to unload one patient, and returning to Brize Norton with the other three.[58]

 
Football scarves and shirts were laid as a tribute outside Bescot Stadium, home of Walsall F.C., the team which three of the British victims supported.

On 29 June, the House of Commons chamber observed a minute of silence shortly before the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that a national minute of silence would be held on 3 July 2015 at 12:00 local time to remember the victims, exactly one week on from the attacks.[59] Cameron later led several COBRA meetings.[60] The Foreign Office sent a team to the hotel to support British survivors and learn more about the British victims. The Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner announced a heightened police presence and security for Armed Forces Day and Pride London events taking place in London over the weekend.[61] On 28 June 2015, the Queen said she and the Duke of Edinburgh were shocked by the attack and offered their deepest sympathy to the injured.[62] Sixteen British counter-terrorism police were deployed to Tunisia in the direct aftermath of the attacks, and almost 400 officers were sent to British airports to identify potential witnesses to the attack who had returned home.[63]

Between 1 and 4 July the bodies of all thirty British nationals killed in the attacks were flown from Tunisia to RAF Brize Norton.[64][65][66][67] On 2 July David Cameron and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon began making calls for airstrikes in Syria, believing the Sousse attacks to have been coordinated from there.[68] On 3 July, the UK held a nationwide minute's silence at 12:00 local time to remember the victims of the attacks as government buildings and Buckingham Palace flew the Union Jack at half-mast.[66]

Two British tourists, Allen Pembroke and Paul Short, were awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery in the 2017 Birthday Honours for aiding victims of the attack while it was still underway.[69]

An inquest to the attack was initially scheduled to start in November 2016 but was postponed to 2017. On 16 January 2017, the first hearing of the inquest was held in the Royal Courts of Justice in London.[70][71] The inquest found that the police response to the Tunisia Beach Attacks was "at best shambolic and at worst cowardly" after officers in the vicinity were found to be hiding or running in the opposite direction to the attacker. A security team close to the attack and armed with assault rifles and wearing protective vests, retreated to wait for reinforcements for a half an hour, during which time the lone gunman killed the 38 victims.[9]

By March 2017, at least six police officers were referred to trial for criminal negligence for failing to help the victims, and 27 others were referred on similar charges, according to the Tunisian Justice Ministry.[9]

A coroner at the inquest ruled that the victims of the attacks were "unlawfully killed" prompting the relatives of British victims to take legal action against tour operator TUI.[72]

Law firm Irwin Mitchell represented 85 families affected by the attack, who amongst them had lost 22 family members. Of the families represented, 63 Britons were injured, some suffering life changing injuries from gunshot and shrapnel wounds.[73]

The trial, involving more than 50 witnesses and experts, was heard in private due to the evidence being considered sensitive for security reasons.[73] In a joint statement, a spokesperson for Irwin Mitchell and tour operator TUI announced a settlement had been reached. The settlement was reached “without admission of liability or fault and in recognition of the wholly exceptional circumstances of the case”.[74]

Reactions edit

Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi called for a global strategy against terrorism[75] and visited Sousse with Prime Minister Habib Essid,[22] who promised to close 80 mosques within the week.[76][77] The government also planned to crack down on financing for certain associations as a countermeasure against another attack.[78] Essid announced new anti-terrorism measures, including the deployment of reserve troops to reinforce security at "sensitive sites ... and places that could be targets of terrorist attacks." The "exceptional plan to better secure tourist and archaeological sites" will include "deploying armed tourist security officers all along the coast and inside hotels from 1 July,"[10] and that:

The country is under threat; the government is under threat. Without the cooperation of everyone and a show of unity, we cannot win this war. We have won some battles and lost others, but our objective is to win the war... Some mosques continue to spread their propaganda and their venom to promote terrorism. No mosque that does not conform to the law will be tolerated.[77]

Beji Caid Essebsi also denounced the "cowardly" attacks, promising "painful but necessary" measures to fight extremism in the country. He called for a firm response: "No country is safe from terrorism, and we need a global strategy of all democratic countries."[77]

On 4 July, Essebsi removed from his post the provincial Governor of Sousse and at least five senior police officers. Among the policemen dismissed were three from Sousse, one from Gaafour (the home city of Rezgui) and one from Kairouan, where Rezgui was studying.[79]

On 22 July, Tunisian MPs began a three-day debate on new counter-terrorism legislation. The legislation would allow the courts to impose death sentences to those convicted of terrorism-related offences. The legislation would also make public support of terrorism a jailable offence. If passed, the bill would allow law enforcement and security services to tap phone calls of individuals suspected of terrorism.[80]

On 8 July, the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office changed the advised status of Tunisia to "Advise against all but essential travel", resulting from 9 July in the planned return home of the estimated 3,000 British nationals in Tunisia at that time. ABTA and travel organisations First Choice, TUI and Thomson have stated that they plan to send no further British tourists to Tunisia until after 31 October 2015.[81]

Memorials edit

 
Infinite Wave Memorial, Birmingham, England.

On 4 March 2019, a memorial to the British victims, and a victim of the Bardo attack, called Infinite Wave, was unveiled in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.[82][83]

Other Islamist attacks edit

Four other Islamist attacks took place on the same day in France, Kuwait, Syria and Somalia. The attacks followed an audio message released three days earlier by ISIL senior leader Abu Mohammad al-Adnani encouraging militants everywhere to attack during the month of Ramadan. No definitive link between the attacks has yet been established. One attack, at a French factory, resulted in the beheading of one person; another bombing at a Shia mosque in Kuwait City killed at least 27; and the other attack on an African Union base in Somalia undertaken by Al-Shabaab, killed at least 70.[84]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Amara, Tarek (26 June 2015). "Gunman kills 39 at Tunisian beachside hotel, Islamic State claims attack". Reuters.
  2. ^ a b c d "Africa – Scores killed in terror attack on Tunisian beach resort". France 24. 26 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Tunisia attack: How a man with a parasol could murder 38 people on the beach". The Guardian. 28 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Tunisia beach attack: British death toll 'will top 30'". BBC News. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  5. ^ Global Terrorism Database
  6. ^ "Death toll from attack at Tunisia hotel rises to 39". wbtv.com. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  7. ^ Payne, Ed; Black, Phil; Smith-Spark, Laura. "Tunisia attack: Tourists flee the country after gunman kills 38". CNN. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  8. ^ Elgot, Jessica (26 June 2015). "Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in Sousse resort". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  9. ^ a b c Walsh, Declan; Youssef, Nour (1 March 2017). "Tunisian Officers, Branded 'Cowardly' During Massacre, Face Charges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  10. ^ a b timesofisrael.com: "Tunisia to shut illegal mosques as IS claims deadly hotel attack", 27 June 2015
  11. ^ Markey, Patrick; Amara, Tarek (22 December 2014). "Veteran Essebsi wins Tunisia's first free presidential vote". Reuters. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  12. ^ a b chronicle.fanack.com. . fanack.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Third Tunisia museum attacker 'on the run', says president". Yahoo! News. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  14. ^ "21 dead in Tunisia attack, Including Gunmen". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  15. ^ Marszal, Andrew (18 March 2015). . The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  16. ^ "ISIS Claims Responsibility For Tunisia Museum Attack". HuffPost. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Gunmen storm Tunisian museum, kill 17 foreign tourists". Reuters. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  18. ^ a b c d e Siddique, Haroon; Jalabi, Raya (26 June 2015). "Terror attacks: deadly gun assault on Tunisia tourist beach – live updates". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  19. ^ Elgot, Jessica (26 June 2015). "Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in Sousse resort". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  20. ^ Amara, Tarek (26 June 2015). "Gun attack kills at least 28, including Europeans, at Tunisian beachside hotel". Reuters. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  21. ^ "Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in resort of Sousse". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  22. ^ a b c "Tunisia attack on Sousse hotels 'kills 37'". BBC News. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  23. ^ Kalashnikov magazines typically hold 30 rounds, though capacities from 5 to 100 rounds are available
  24. ^ a b c "Tunisia hotel shooting video: Dramatic footage appears to show gunman Seifeddine Rezgui running on Sousse beach". The Independent. 29 June 2015. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  25. ^ . Channel NewsAsia. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015.
  26. ^ "Irish death toll rises to three as Athlone couple confirmed among 38 dead". World News. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  27. ^ "Irish woman shot dead in Tunisia attack was well-known nurse". World News. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  28. ^ "8 Anschlag in Sousse: Auswärtiges Amt bestätigt weiteres deutsches Todesopfer". Der Spiegel. 29 June 2015.
  29. ^ . The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  30. ^ a b "Tunisia hotel attack: Live updates as authorities reveal 'majority' of victims are British". Daily Mirror. 27 June 2015.
  31. ^ a b "Attentat en Tunisie : 33 victimes ont été identifiées". Le Parisien (in French). 30 June 2015.
  32. ^ The Latest: Germany Says 1 Citizen Killed in Tunisia Attack
  33. ^ . DN. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015.
  34. ^ "Shaken tourists flee Tunisia after seaside massacre". 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  35. ^ Ukrainian woman injured in attack on Tunisia resort, life not in danger – Foreign Ministry
  36. ^ Authi, Jasbir (29 June 2015). "Ex-Birmingham City player Denis Thwaites and his wife confirmed dead in Tunisian terror attacks". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  37. ^ Tunisia beach attack: Who were the British victims killed in Sousse? | Sky News
  38. ^ Jessica Plautz (26 June 2015). "What an attack on a tourist resort means for Tunisia". Mashable. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  39. ^ "Gunmen Kill 27 in Attack on Tunisian Resort, Officials Say". World News. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  40. ^ "Tunisia Sousse Attacks: Death Toll Rises To 37". ATW News. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  41. ^ "Seifeddine Regui alias Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani has been named by Islamic State as the gunman". Daily Express. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  42. ^ "L'attaque terroriste contre un hôtel à Sousse: Ce qu'il faut savoir sur son auteur" (in French). Mosaique FM. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  43. ^ a b "Family shocked as Tunis 'break-dance star' becomes mass murderer". The Times of Israel. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  44. ^ JEREMY ARMSTRONG; DAN WARBURTON (30 June 2015). "Tunisia terror attack: ISIS killer Seifiddine Rezgui high on drugs when he carried out massacre". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  45. ^ KIM SENGUPTA (1 July 2015). "Seifeddine Rezgui: radicalised as Gaddafi fell, enraged by Assad, inspired by Isis - the terrorist behind Facebook posts about Real Madrid". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  46. ^ a b c d telegraph.co.uk: "Tunisia attack: gunman's links to Britain", 30 June 2015
  47. ^ telegraph.co.uk: "'Why weren’t we told of Sousse suicide bomber?’", 4 July 2015
  48. ^ telegraph.co.uk: "Senior Tunisian jihadist and Osama bin Laden associate 'killed by US strike in Libya'", 3 July 2015
  49. ^ telegraph.co.uk: "How Britain and the EU allowed jihadists to wage war on their own tourists", 4 July 2015
  50. ^ "Tunisia beach attack: 'Mastermind' named". BBC News. 9 January 2017.
  51. ^ Schuetze, Arno (26 June 2015). "Germany's TUI offers to fly Tunisia tourists home". Reuters. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  52. ^ "Thomson Fly Travel Alert". Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  53. ^ . Archived from the original on 21 August 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  54. ^ "Thomson Holidays". Retrieved 27 June 2015 – via Facebook.[non-primary source needed]
  55. ^ "The Latest: At least 5 Britons killed in Tunisia attack". Yahoo! News. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  56. ^ "Gunman kills 39 at Tunisian beachside hotel, Islamic State claims attack". Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  57. ^ "RAF Plane To Evacuate Casualties From Tunisia". Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  58. ^ "Tunisia attack: Injured Britons flown home by RAF". BBC News. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  59. ^ "National Minute of Silence After Tunisia Attack". Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  60. ^ "PM to chair emergency Cobra meeting after Tunisia attacks". ITV News.
  61. ^ "UK on terror red alert for weekend's Armed Forces Day events and Pride London". Express. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  62. ^ "Tunisia attack: Queen offers condolences to victims' families". BBC News. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  63. ^ "Tunisia attack: police on alert amid fears UK toll will hit 30". The Guardian Newspaper. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  64. ^ "Tunisia: Bodies of Eight Victims Back in UK". Sky News. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  65. ^ Buchanan, Rose (2 July 2015). "Tunisia attack: RAF returns bodies of nine more British victims after Sousse beach terror attack". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  66. ^ a b "Sky News Newsdesk on Twitter". Retrieved 3 July 2015.[non-primary source needed]
  67. ^ "Tunisia beach attack: Last five bodies returned to UK". BBC News. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  68. ^ "Consider Syria IS strikes, defence secretary urges MPs". BBC News. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  69. ^ "No. 61969". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2017. p. 11776.
  70. ^ "Tunisia attack inquests put back to 2017". BBC News. March 2016.
  71. ^ "Tunisia attack: British lives could have been saved". BBC News. 16 January 2017.
  72. ^ "Tunisia beach attack: British families to sue TUI". BBC News. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  73. ^ a b "Tunisia Terror Attack Lawyers And Families Mark Anniversary". Irwin Mitchell. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  74. ^ "A settlement has been agreed in the 2015 Tunisia terrorist attack civil case between tour operator TUI and Irwin Mitchell on behalf of the claimants". Irwin Mitchell. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  75. ^ Ensor, Josie; Henderson, Barney (26 June 2015). . The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  76. ^ yahoo.com: "Tunisia government says to close 80 mosques for inciting violence, after hotel attack", 26 June 2015
  77. ^ a b c ibtimes.com: "Tunisia Hotel Attack: Prime Minister Vows To Close 80 Mosques Spreading 'Venom' In The Country", 27 June 2015
  78. ^ dw.com: "Tunisia to close 80 mosques following terror attack", 27 June 2015
  79. ^ telegraph.co.uk: "Tunisia sacks governor and police over terror attacks", 4 July 2015
  80. ^ "Tunisia seeking to confront extremist threat with new anti-terrorism bill", 22 July 2015
  81. ^ "Tunisia travel alert: Thousands of Britons fly home". BBC News. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  82. ^ "Harry unveils Tunisia attacks memorial". BBC. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  83. ^ "Duke of Sussex unveils Sousse and Bardo Memorial". United Kingdom Government. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  84. ^ "Terrorist Attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait Kill Dozens". The New York Times.

External links edit

  • Tunisia's Security Concerns

2015, sousse, attacks, june, 2015, mass, shooting, occurred, tourist, resort, port, kantaoui, about, kilometres, north, city, sousse, tunisia, thirty, eight, people, whom, were, british, were, killed, when, gunman, seifeddine, rezgui, attacked, hotel, deadlies. 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 1 2 Thirty eight people 30 of whom were British were killed when a gunman Seifeddine Rezgui attacked a hotel 6 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 7 The attack received widespread condemnation around the world 8 The Tunisian government later acknowledged fault for slow police response to the attack 9 2015 Sousse attacksPart of 2015 Ramadan attacks and ISIL insurgency in TunisiaThe Hotel Imperial Marhaba in Sousse in 2004SousseLocationRiu Imperial Marhaba and Soviva Port El Kantaoui Sousse Tunisia 1 2 Coordinates35 54 43 52 N 10 34 48 1 E 35 9120889 N 10 580028 E 35 9120889 10 580028Date26 June 2015 1 c 11 45 a m 12 15 p m 3 GMT 1 TargetEuropean tourists staying at a hotel 1 2 WeaponsAK 47 assault rifleDeaths39 including the perpetrator 4 Injured39 1 PerpetratorsSeifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Libya Province 5 Contents 1 Background 2 Attack 2 1 Victims 3 Perpetrator and associates 4 Aftermath 5 Reactions 6 Memorials 7 Other Islamist attacks 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksBackground editSee also Bardo National Museum attack In October 2013 a suicide bomber blew himself up in a botched attack on a Sousse beach while security forces foiled another planned attack nearby 10 The post Tunisian revolution led to the 2014 parliamentary election in which the principal secularist party gained a plurality but was unable to govern alone and ultimately formed a national unity government Secularist Beji Caid Essebsi was elected president in the 2014 Tunisian presidential election 11 Since the overthrow of Tunisian president Ben Ali terrorism increased leading to 60 victims among security and military troops Other attacks targeted civilians and tourists Despite this Tunisia was considered to be a secure country 12 On 18 March 2015 the Bardo National Museum in Tunis was attacked by three terrorists leading to the deaths of twenty two people including twenty foreigners visiting the museum Two of the gunmen Tunisian citizens Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui were killed by police while the third attacker is currently at large 13 Police treated the event as a terrorist attack 14 15 The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to commit further attacks 16 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 on 28 March 17 After the Bardo attack the government announced new security measures and declared the country safe again 12 Attack editOn 26 June 2015 the Spanish owned five star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel at Port El Kantaoui a tourist complex situated on the coast about ten kilometres north of Sousse Tunisia was hosting 565 guests mainly from Western Europe 77 of its capacity 18 Tourists from the hotel as well as from the Soviva Hotel located nearby went to the beach 19 At around noon Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi disguised as a tourist 20 socialised with others and then took out a Kalashnikov assault rifle concealed in a beach umbrella and fired at the tourists on the beach He entered the hotel shooting at people he came across 18 He was killed by security forces during an exchange of fire 18 21 22 All bullets were found to have been fired from the one weapon the attacker had four magazines of ammunition 23 24 The attacker had spoken to his father on a mobile telephone which he then threw into the sea during the attack it was retrieved 24 An Interior Ministry spokesman said that they were sure that others helped but did not participate directly providing the Kalashnikov and helping Rezgui to the scene 24 Victims edit Nationality Deaths Wounded Total Ref nbsp United Kingdom 30 26 56 25 nbsp Republic of Ireland 3 0 3 26 27 nbsp Germany 2 1 3 28 29 nbsp Belgium 1 3 4 30 nbsp Russia 1 1 2 31 32 nbsp Portugal 1 0 1 33 34 nbsp Tunisia 0 7 7 30 nbsp Ukraine 0 1 1 35 Total 38 39 77 31 Thirty eight people were killed 30 of whom were British 2 22 Among the fatalities was Denis Thwaites a former professional footballer for Birmingham City and his wife Elaine 36 Victims also included people from three generations of one family Adrian Evans Patrick Evans and Joel Richards 37 Thirty nine people were also wounded 18 38 39 40 Perpetrator and associates editThe killer Seifiddine Rezgui Yacoubi also known as Abu Yahya al Qayrawani 41 29 August 1992 26 June 2015 42 was a 22 year old electrical engineering student at University of Kairouan from Gaafour in northwest Tunisia 43 He did not have the typical traits of an Islamic extremist he had a girlfriend drank alcohol and was a local break dancing star He was also believed to be high on cocaine during his rampage 43 44 He is believed to have been radicalized over such issues as the Libyan Civil War and Western inaction against the Assad government during the Syrian Civil War 45 Rezgui is thought to have been recruited by Ajnad al Khilafah 46 an outgrowth of the Tunisian branch of Ansar al Sharia which was founded by Seifallah Ben Hassine who had lived in the UK in the 1990s and whose mentor during that time was Abu Qatada 47 High Court papers relating to a control order placed on a British based suspect state that Ben Hassine aimed to recruit new members and send them to Afghanistan for training 46 The control order documents add that Abu Qatada appears as a watermark running through the whole of this case as being the mastermind 46 Ben Hassine is reported to have been killed by the USAF near Adjabiya in eastern Libya on 14 June 2015 The strike was designed to kill Mokhtar Belmokhtar in an Ansar meeting After the overthrow of Tunisia s President Zine el Abedine Ben Ali in 2011 Ben Hassine was released from jail in March 2011 under an amnesty and later founded Ansar al Sharia in Tunisia which resisted proscription until 2013 arguing it was carrying out humanitarian work even though Ben Hassine personally had led the storming of the US Embassy in Tunis on 14 September 2012 three days after Ansar s Libyan counterparts killed US ambassador J Christopher Stevens in Benghazi Libya When Ansar was finally outlawed in August 2013 after the murders of two secular leftist MPs he was listed as a proscribed terrorist by the United States and he fled to Libya 48 49 Qatada wrote in a letter published online in January 2014 that Ben Hassine is among the best of those I have known in intellect and the most knowledgeable of people of my intentions for he was the closest of people to me 46 In January 2017 documents obtained by Panorama identified Chamseddine al Sandi as the orchestrator behind the attack He is named in confessions from suspects who were arrested in connection with the shootings Rezgui was killed at the scene but the documents obtained by Panorama say that he was recruited and directed by al Sandi The confessions say al Sandi ran a militant cell responsible for both the Sousse shootings and the attack three months earlier at the Bardo National Museum in which 22 people died Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State 50 Aftermath editImmediately after the attack the flight JAF5017 on its way to Enfidha Hammamet International Airport was redirected to Brussels 18 German tour operator TUI offered German tourists the opportunity to fly back to Germany and to cancel or adjust their bookings in Tunisia 51 British tour operator Thomson announced that flights to Tunisia would be cancelled until at least 9 July 2015 52 53 with ten flights departing on the evening of the attacks to bring 2 500 customers in the resort back to the United Kingdom 54 EasyJet and Thomas Cook announced that customers planning to visit Tunisia would be able to change their travel plans free of charge 55 Hotels were targeted in attacks to undermine tourism and because they were considered brothels by ISIS 56 Both tourism and the related industries accounted for up to 14 9 of the Tunisian economy in 2014 citation needed The United Kingdom s Home Secretary Theresa May and Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood visited the site of the shooting on 29 June 2015 It was also announced that a Royal Air Force aircraft would be sent to repatriate bodies and evacuate the injured back to the UK 57 On 29 June an RAF Boeing C 17 Globemaster III flew from RAF Brize Norton to Tunisia to recover four British victims with the C17 returning via Birmingham Airport to unload one patient and returning to Brize Norton with the other three 58 nbsp Football scarves and shirts were laid as a tribute outside Bescot Stadium home of Walsall F C the team which three of the British victims supported On 29 June the House of Commons chamber observed a minute of silence shortly before the UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that a national minute of silence would be held on 3 July 2015 at 12 00 local time to remember the victims exactly one week on from the attacks 59 Cameron later led several COBRA meetings 60 The Foreign Office sent a team to the hotel to support British survivors and learn more about the British victims The Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner announced a heightened police presence and security for Armed Forces Day and Pride London events taking place in London over the weekend 61 On 28 June 2015 the Queen said she and the Duke of Edinburgh were shocked by the attack and offered their deepest sympathy to the injured 62 Sixteen British counter terrorism police were deployed to Tunisia in the direct aftermath of the attacks and almost 400 officers were sent to British airports to identify potential witnesses to the attack who had returned home 63 Between 1 and 4 July the bodies of all thirty British nationals killed in the attacks were flown from Tunisia to RAF Brize Norton 64 65 66 67 On 2 July David Cameron and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon began making calls for airstrikes in Syria believing the Sousse attacks to have been coordinated from there 68 On 3 July the UK held a nationwide minute s silence at 12 00 local time to remember the victims of the attacks as government buildings and Buckingham Palace flew the Union Jack at half mast 66 Two British tourists Allen Pembroke and Paul Short were awarded the Queen s Commendation for Bravery in the 2017 Birthday Honours for aiding victims of the attack while it was still underway 69 An inquest to the attack was initially scheduled to start in November 2016 but was postponed to 2017 On 16 January 2017 the first hearing of the inquest was held in the Royal Courts of Justice in London 70 71 The inquest found that the police response to the Tunisia Beach Attacks was at best shambolic and at worst cowardly after officers in the vicinity were found to be hiding or running in the opposite direction to the attacker A security team close to the attack and armed with assault rifles and wearing protective vests retreated to wait for reinforcements for a half an hour during which time the lone gunman killed the 38 victims 9 By March 2017 at least six police officers were referred to trial for criminal negligence for failing to help the victims and 27 others were referred on similar charges according to the Tunisian Justice Ministry 9 A coroner at the inquest ruled that the victims of the attacks were unlawfully killed prompting the relatives of British victims to take legal action against tour operator TUI 72 Law firm Irwin Mitchell represented 85 families affected by the attack who amongst them had lost 22 family members Of the families represented 63 Britons were injured some suffering life changing injuries from gunshot and shrapnel wounds 73 The trial involving more than 50 witnesses and experts was heard in private due to the evidence being considered sensitive for security reasons 73 In a joint statement a spokesperson for Irwin Mitchell and tour operator TUI announced a settlement had been reached The settlement was reached without admission of liability or fault and in recognition of the wholly exceptional circumstances of the case 74 Reactions editTunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi called for a global strategy against terrorism 75 and visited Sousse with Prime Minister Habib Essid 22 who promised to close 80 mosques within the week 76 77 The government also planned to crack down on financing for certain associations as a countermeasure against another attack 78 Essid announced new anti terrorism measures including the deployment of reserve troops to reinforce security at sensitive sites and places that could be targets of terrorist attacks The exceptional plan to better secure tourist and archaeological sites will include deploying armed tourist security officers all along the coast and inside hotels from 1 July 10 and that The country is under threat the government is under threat Without the cooperation of everyone and a show of unity we cannot win this war We have won some battles and lost others but our objective is to win the war Some mosques continue to spread their propaganda and their venom to promote terrorism No mosque that does not conform to the law will be tolerated 77 Beji Caid Essebsi also denounced the cowardly attacks promising painful but necessary measures to fight extremism in the country He called for a firm response No country is safe from terrorism and we need a global strategy of all democratic countries 77 On 4 July Essebsi removed from his post the provincial Governor of Sousse and at least five senior police officers Among the policemen dismissed were three from Sousse one from Gaafour the home city of Rezgui and one from Kairouan where Rezgui was studying 79 On 22 July Tunisian MPs began a three day debate on new counter terrorism legislation The legislation would allow the courts to impose death sentences to those convicted of terrorism related offences The legislation would also make public support of terrorism a jailable offence If passed the bill would allow law enforcement and security services to tap phone calls of individuals suspected of terrorism 80 On 8 July the British Foreign amp Commonwealth Office changed the advised status of Tunisia to Advise against all but essential travel resulting from 9 July in the planned return home of the estimated 3 000 British nationals in Tunisia at that time ABTA and travel organisations First Choice TUI and Thomson have stated that they plan to send no further British tourists to Tunisia until after 31 October 2015 81 Memorials edit nbsp Infinite Wave Memorial Birmingham England On 4 March 2019 a memorial to the British victims and a victim of the Bardo attack called Infinite Wave was unveiled in Cannon Hill Park Birmingham by Prince Harry Duke of Sussex 82 83 Other Islamist attacks editFour other Islamist attacks took place on the same day in France Kuwait Syria and Somalia The attacks followed an audio message released three days earlier by ISIL senior leader Abu Mohammad al Adnani encouraging militants everywhere to attack during the month of Ramadan No definitive link between the attacks has yet been established One attack at a French factory resulted in the beheading of one person another bombing at a Shia mosque in Kuwait City killed at least 27 and the other attack on an African Union base in Somalia undertaken by Al Shabaab killed at least 70 84 See also edit nbsp Africa portal List of rampage killers religious political or ethnic crimes List of Islamist terrorist attacks List of terrorist incidents in 2015 List of terrorist incidents in TunisiaReferences edit a b c d e Amara Tarek 26 June 2015 Gunman kills 39 at Tunisian beachside hotel Islamic State claims attack Reuters a b c d Africa Scores killed in terror attack on Tunisian beach resort France 24 26 June 2015 Tunisia attack How a man with a parasol could murder 38 people on the beach The Guardian 28 February 2017 Tunisia beach attack British death toll will top 30 BBC News 28 June 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Global Terrorism Database Death toll from attack at Tunisia hotel rises to 39 wbtv com Retrieved 29 June 2015 Payne Ed Black Phil Smith Spark Laura Tunisia attack Tourists flee the country after gunman kills 38 CNN Retrieved 27 June 2015 Elgot Jessica 26 June 2015 Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in Sousse resort The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 28 February 2017 a b c Walsh Declan Youssef Nour 1 March 2017 Tunisian Officers Branded Cowardly During Massacre Face Charges The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2 March 2017 a b timesofisrael com Tunisia to shut illegal mosques as IS claims deadly hotel attack 27 June 2015 Markey Patrick Amara Tarek 22 December 2014 Veteran Essebsi wins Tunisia s first free presidential vote Reuters Retrieved 27 June 2015 a b chronicle fanack com In Tunisia is it an Era of Democracy or Terrorism fanack com Archived from the original on 23 September 2015 Retrieved 27 July 2015 Third Tunisia museum attacker on the run says president Yahoo News 22 March 2015 Retrieved 27 June 2015 21 dead in Tunisia attack Including Gunmen Al Jazeera Retrieved 19 March 2015 Marszal Andrew 18 March 2015 Gunmen take hostages in attack on Tunisia parliament The Telegraph Archived from the original on 18 March 2015 Retrieved 18 March 2015 ISIS Claims Responsibility For Tunisia Museum Attack HuffPost Retrieved 19 March 2015 Gunmen storm Tunisian museum kill 17 foreign tourists Reuters 18 March 2015 Retrieved 18 March 2015 a b c d e Siddique Haroon Jalabi Raya 26 June 2015 Terror attacks deadly gun assault on Tunisia tourist beach live updates The Guardian Retrieved 26 June 2015 Elgot Jessica 26 June 2015 Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in Sousse resort The Guardian Retrieved 26 June 2015 Amara Tarek 26 June 2015 Gun attack kills at least 28 including Europeans at Tunisian beachside hotel Reuters Retrieved 26 June 2015 Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in resort of Sousse The Guardian Retrieved 26 June 2015 a b c Tunisia attack on Sousse hotels kills 37 BBC News Retrieved 26 June 2015 Kalashnikov magazines typically hold 30 rounds though capacities from 5 to 100 rounds are available a b c Tunisia hotel shooting video Dramatic footage appears to show gunman Seifeddine Rezgui running on Sousse beach The Independent 29 June 2015 Archived from the original on 1 May 2022 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Tunisia identifies all 38 victims of beach massacre 30 British Channel NewsAsia 1 July 2015 Archived from the original on 5 July 2015 Irish death toll rises to three as Athlone couple confirmed among 38 dead World News Retrieved 28 June 2015 Irish woman shot dead in Tunisia attack was well known nurse World News Retrieved 27 June 2015 8 Anschlag in Sousse Auswartiges Amt bestatigt weiteres deutsches Todesopfer Der Spiegel 29 June 2015 Tunisia attack 1000 armed police to protect British tourists as chilling new video shows gunman chased by hotel staff latest The Telegraph Archived from the original on 29 June 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 a b Tunisia hotel attack Live updates as authorities reveal majority of victims are British Daily Mirror 27 June 2015 a b Attentat en Tunisie 33 victimes ont ete identifiees Le Parisien in French 30 June 2015 The Latest Germany Says 1 Citizen Killed in Tunisia Attack Uma portugu esa entre as vitimas do atentado na Tunisia Portugal DN Archived from the original on 29 June 2015 Shaken tourists flee Tunisia after seaside massacre 27 June 2015 Retrieved 27 June 2015 Ukrainian woman injured in attack on Tunisia resort life not in danger Foreign Ministry Authi Jasbir 29 June 2015 Ex Birmingham City player Denis Thwaites and his wife confirmed dead in Tunisian terror attacks Birmingham Mail Retrieved 29 June 2015 Tunisia beach attack Who were the British victims killed in Sousse Sky News Jessica Plautz 26 June 2015 What an attack on a tourist resort means for Tunisia Mashable Retrieved 27 June 2015 Gunmen Kill 27 in Attack on Tunisian Resort Officials Say World News Retrieved 27 June 2015 Tunisia Sousse Attacks Death Toll Rises To 37 ATW News Retrieved 27 June 2015 Seifeddine Regui alias Abu Yahya al Qayrawani has been named by Islamic State as the gunman Daily Express 26 June 2015 Retrieved 26 June 2015 L attaque terroriste contre un hotel a Sousse Ce qu il faut savoir sur son auteur in French Mosaique FM 26 June 2015 Retrieved 27 June 2015 a b Family shocked as Tunis break dance star becomes mass murderer The Times of Israel 28 June 2015 Retrieved 3 July 2015 JEREMY ARMSTRONG DAN WARBURTON 30 June 2015 Tunisia terror attack ISIS killer Seifiddine Rezgui high on drugs when he carried out massacre Daily Mirror Retrieved 3 July 2015 KIM SENGUPTA 1 July 2015 Seifeddine Rezgui radicalised as Gaddafi fell enraged by Assad inspired by Isis the terrorist behind Facebook posts about Real Madrid The Independent Archived from the original on 1 May 2022 Retrieved 3 July 2015 a b c d telegraph co uk Tunisia attack gunman s links to Britain 30 June 2015 telegraph co uk Why weren t we told of Sousse suicide bomber 4 July 2015 telegraph co uk Senior Tunisian jihadist and Osama bin Laden associate killed by US strike in Libya 3 July 2015 telegraph co uk How Britain and the EU allowed jihadists to wage war on their own tourists 4 July 2015 Tunisia beach attack Mastermind named BBC News 9 January 2017 Schuetze Arno 26 June 2015 Germany s TUI offers to fly Tunisia tourists home Reuters Retrieved 5 April 2020 Thomson Fly Travel Alert Retrieved 27 June 2015 Thomson and First Choice Statement Customer Policy in relation to holidays to Tunisia TUITravel Media Centre Thomson Archived from the original on 21 August 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Thomson Holidays Retrieved 27 June 2015 via Facebook non primary source needed The Latest At least 5 Britons killed in Tunisia attack Yahoo News 26 June 2015 Retrieved 27 June 2015 Gunman kills 39 at Tunisian beachside hotel Islamic State claims attack Retrieved 27 June 2015 RAF Plane To Evacuate Casualties From Tunisia Retrieved 29 June 2015 Tunisia attack Injured Britons flown home by RAF BBC News 30 June 2015 Retrieved 3 July 2015 National Minute of Silence After Tunisia Attack Retrieved 29 June 2015 PM to chair emergency Cobra meeting after Tunisia attacks ITV News UK on terror red alert for weekend s Armed Forces Day events and Pride London Express Retrieved 27 June 2015 Tunisia attack Queen offers condolences to victims families BBC News 28 June 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Tunisia attack police on alert amid fears UK toll will hit 30 The Guardian Newspaper 28 June 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Tunisia Bodies of Eight Victims Back in UK Sky News Retrieved 3 July 2015 Buchanan Rose 2 July 2015 Tunisia attack RAF returns bodies of nine more British victims after Sousse beach terror attack The Independent Retrieved 2 July 2015 a b Sky News Newsdesk on Twitter Retrieved 3 July 2015 non primary source needed Tunisia beach attack Last five bodies returned to UK BBC News 4 July 2015 Retrieved 4 July 2015 Consider Syria IS strikes defence secretary urges MPs BBC News 2 July 2015 Retrieved 2 July 2015 No 61969 The London Gazette Supplement 16 June 2017 p 11776 Tunisia attack inquests put back to 2017 BBC News March 2016 Tunisia attack British lives could have been saved BBC News 16 January 2017 Tunisia beach attack British families to sue TUI BBC News 28 February 2017 Retrieved 28 February 2017 a b Tunisia Terror Attack Lawyers And Families Mark Anniversary Irwin Mitchell Retrieved 24 January 2022 A settlement has been agreed in the 2015 Tunisia terrorist attack civil case between tour operator TUI and Irwin Mitchell on behalf of the claimants Irwin Mitchell Retrieved 24 January 2022 Ensor Josie Henderson Barney 26 June 2015 Tunisia attack deadly shooting in front of tourist beach hotel in Sousse latest The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 27 June 2015 Retrieved 26 June 2015 yahoo com Tunisia government says to close 80 mosques for inciting violence after hotel attack 26 June 2015 a b c ibtimes com Tunisia Hotel Attack Prime Minister Vows To Close 80 Mosques Spreading Venom In The Country 27 June 2015 dw com Tunisia to close 80 mosques following terror attack 27 June 2015 telegraph co uk Tunisia sacks governor and police over terror attacks 4 July 2015 Tunisia seeking to confront extremist threat with new anti terrorism bill 22 July 2015 Tunisia travel alert Thousands of Britons fly home BBC News 10 July 2015 Retrieved 9 October 2016 Harry unveils Tunisia attacks memorial BBC 4 March 2019 Retrieved 4 March 2019 Duke of Sussex unveils Sousse and Bardo Memorial United Kingdom Government Retrieved 4 March 2019 Terrorist Attacks in France Tunisia and Kuwait Kill Dozens The New York Times External links editTunisia s Security Concerns Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2015 Sousse attacks amp oldid 1220082906, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.