According to medical authorities, the dead toll from Tuesday’s shooting outside a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba has grown to six, including the loss of a Tunisian security officer.
The offender, a National Guard soldier, killed a colleague at a naval base before heading to a synagogue holding a Jewish celebration, where he opened fire on police and spectators before killing himself.
Three persons were killed on Wednesday: a police officer, a civilian, and two Jewish cousins, one French and one Israeli-Tunisian.
In addition to the four police officers, four civilians were injured, one critically, according to hospital officials.
The attack, the worst in years, occurred on a tourist island—a significant industry in Tunisia—but police have yet to offer a rationale or suggest whether or not others were involved. Moez Belhassine, the tourism minister, went to Djerba to reassure hotel guests that they were secure.
The attack was described as a “lethal shooting incident” by an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson, who added that officials were still investigating the event.
The US and France also applauded Tunisia’s security personnel for their quick response.
After gunshots rang out, pilgrims recalled a terrifying scene in which people took safety in different sections of the synagogue.
Everyone was joyful and dancing before the shooting began. While everyone else fled, some individuals hid in my office. Peres Trabelsi, the head of Djerba’s Jewish community, reported an environment of pervasive dread.
Increased security presence
Former Tunisian tourist minister Rene Trabelsi, who assisted in organizing the trip, said the attacker arrived on a quad bike wearing body armor and that the two cousins attempted to hide behind a bus outside the synagogue.
“We heard the shots and knew it was related to an attack,” he said, explaining that he and his family were inside the synagogue at the time of the shooting.
Djerba, an island off the coast of Tunisia, is home to Africa’s oldest synagogue, a popular destination for Jewish pilgrims from across the globe.
After a truck bomb killed 21 Western guests at the synagogue in 2002, security has been tightened throughout the pilgrimage. Although Tunisia is mostly Muslim, it also has one of the largest Jewish communities in North Africa, with over 1,800 individuals.
All eyes will be on the tourism sector, Tunisia’s primary source of foreign currency, in a year when the government is asking for money to prevent a financial calamity.
Several Western tourists were slain in major attacks in 2015, and the sector had only just started to recover when the COVID pandemic erupted in 2019 and 2020. Many Tunisians have moved to Europe as a result of the country’s weak economy.
