Dozens die in attack on Tunisian beach hotel
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 26 June 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Dozens die in attack on Tunisian beach hotel, 26 June 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55b5f42915.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
June 26, 2015
The death toll from an attack on a beach resort in Tunisia has risen to 37 dead.
The Health Ministry said the dead include Tunisians, Britons, Germans, and Belgians.
One gunman was killed after the attack on the beachside hotel in the popular resort of Sousse earlier on June 26.
Police were still hunting another suspected gunman.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but Islamist militants have previously targeted tourist sites in Tunisia and elsewhere in North Africa.
Tunisia has been on high alert since March, when Islamist militant gunmen attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing a group of foreign tourists.
Tunisia has been hailed as a model of democratic transition since its 2011 "Arab Spring" uprising.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said there was no evidence so far to suggest the events in Tunisia had been synchronized with terrorist attacks on the same day in France and Kuwait.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the attacks were still being investigated but so far there was "no indication on a tactical level they were coordinated."
In Kuwait City, a suicide bombing on June 26 at a Shi'ite mosque killed at least 25 people, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
On the same day, in southeastern France, a man with ties to Islamic radicals rammed a car into a gas factory, where a severed head was found on a post at the entrance.
The raft of violence came days after IS militants urged their followers "to make Ramadan a month of calamities for the nonbelievers."
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
