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Security bolstered across Tunisia as rallies decry reach of terrorism Tunisia attack highlights threat of violence spilling over from Libya
(about 5 hours later)
TUNIS — Tunisian authorities bolstered security across the country Friday amid fears of more attacks after a museum massacre claimed by the Islamic State and carried out by gunmen who apparently trained in Libya. TUNIS — Two gunmen who massacred tourists at a Tunisian museum received their weapons training in Libya, a top security official said Friday, underscoring the growing threat posed by militant camps in disintegrating regions of the Middle East.
Security forces were deployed at key sites including the main Mediterranean port in the capital, Tunis, and the headquarters of state radio following a threat against the broadcaster. The Tunisian gunmen traveled illegally in December to Libya, which shares a porous border with its North African neighbor, Rafik Chelli, the country’s security chief, told a local television station.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said police were aware of a specific threat against Radio Tunisia but gave no other details. The full-scale security patrols were reminiscent of the dispatch of troops across France after a series of attacks in Paris by Islamist gunmen in January. He said authorities did not know details about the type of training the men received. Interior Ministry officials had previously told relatives of one of the militants that the young man had journeyed to the eastern Libyan city of Derna, according to an interview with a friend of the family’s. That city is controlled by Islamist militants, including a group that has proclaimed loyalty to the Islamic State.
As in France, demonstrators in Tunisia were also voicing their resolve to stand up to terrorism in the country that sparked the Arab Spring revolts across the region four years ago. The two Tunisian jihadists, identified as Yassine Laabidi and Saber — also known as Hatem — Khachnaoui apparently returned to Tunisia to carry out the worst attack here in more than a decade. Armed with assault rifles, they gunned down 21 foreign tourists and a security officer on Wednesday at the Bardo National Museum, a showcase of ancient Roman mosaics.
In Tunis, hundreds of people gathered, waving Tunisian flags in a show of solidarity against the attacks at the world-renowned Bardo National Museum. Some held aloft signs reading “Je Suis Bardo,” French for “I am Bardo,” echoing the defiant phrase “Je Suis Charlie” following the Paris attacks that began at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The revelation of a Libyan link was a wake-up call for Tunisia. Officials here have long feared that the violence in Libya, where numerous armed groups have battled for power since the overthrow of Moammar Gaddafi, would spill into this fledgling democracy.
On Thursday, the Islamic State said that two of its fighters had carried out the museum attack that killed 21 foreign tourists — the latest death reported Friday — in a rampage that raised fears of the jihadist group’s growing international footprint. But lawmakers here said security forces either lacked the proper tools and training to track the jihadists, or had been too relaxed in their surveillance of would-be militants.
Rafik Chelli, the Interior Ministry’s top security official, said Friday the attackers had slipped out of Tunisia in December and received weapons training in neighboring Libya. Signs also emerged Friday of security lapses at the Bardo museum, which is next to the country’s legislature. Police officers assigned to guard the museum were not at the gate when the gunmen arrived, the deputy speaker of parliament said Friday. He said the officers were at a cafe across the street drinking coffee.
Chelli, speaking on the el-Hiwar el-Tounsi TV channel, said authorities did not have further details. But a friend of one of the slain gunmen said the training was in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, which is partly controlled by groups loyal to the Islamic State.
[Museum tourist: “I was hoping just to survive.”][Museum tourist: “I was hoping just to survive.”]
In an audio recording distributed online, the Islamic State said the gunmen, both Tunisians, struck “citizens of the Crusader countries” in the attack Wednesday, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group. For years, Tunisia’s authoritarian leaders imposed secular practices in this largely Muslim country. But Tunisia has emerged as one of the biggest sources of foreign fighters for the Islamic State, which holds large tracts of territory across Syria and Iraq where it has trained and deployed thousands of militants.
The statement marked the first time the Islamic State has claimed an operation in the North African nation, although the group boasts of thousands of Tunisian fighters among its ranks in Iraq and Syria. It was not possible to independently confirm the claim by the Islamic State. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack in Tunis, which killed tourists from Europe, Japan and Colombia. A French citizen died Friday of wounds sustained in the attack, French authorities said.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday there was no clear evidence yet linking the Islamic State to the Tunis attacks. A group loyal to the Islamic State recently seized the Libyan city of Sirte and has carried out attacks in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. But other extremist groups also operate in Libya, including al-Qaeda-inspired Ansar al-Sharia. This was the first time the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack in Tunisia.
The two militants — who were killed in a shootout at the museum Wednesday — appear to have been radicalized in their home towns in a province bordering Algeria and apparently traveled to Libya for training, according to local media reports and an interview with a friend of one of the militants’ families. Their brazen assault has highlighted the danger that the violent jihadist movement poses to this nation, which gave birth to the Arab Spring and is struggling to maintain its democracy. “It is imperative we fight terrorism with all of our efforts,” Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said in an address Friday. The fight “requires national unity and vigilance” by all institutions, he said.
“I want the Tunisian people to understand that we are in a merciless war against terrorism and that these savage minorities do not frighten us,” Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said Thursday. On Friday, hundreds of Tunisians flocked to Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis for a rally marking Independence Day that turned into an anti-terrorism demonstration. French colonial rule ended in Tunisia in 1956.
Demonstrators waved Tunisian flags, and a local band played nationalist songs. Some people held aloft signs reading “Je Suis Bardo,” French for “I am Bardo,” echoing the defiant phrase “Je Suis Charlie” that circulated after the Paris attacks in January that began at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
The avenue also was the center of protests that ousted Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, a series of revolts that toppled several authoritarian leaders, but devolved into bloody conflicts in Libya, Syria and Yemen.
[Read: Why Tunisia, the Arab Spring’s sole success story, suffers from Islamist violence][Read: Why Tunisia, the Arab Spring’s sole success story, suffers from Islamist violence]
Tunisian authorities said nine people were arrested in connection with the attack, which killed tourists from countries including Italy, Spain, Britain, Belgium, France, Colombia and Japan. Authorities on Friday said they had bolstered security across the Tunisian capital. Officials said law enforcement officers were patrolling the main Mediterranean port in Tunis as part of a new security plan to protect vital installations. Police also were deployed Friday to guard the headquarters of Tunisia’s state-run radio. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said there was a threat against Radio Tunisia, but he did not give further details.
In Brussels, French President Francois Hollande told reporters Friday that a third French citizen died of injuries suffered in the attack. To tackle the rise of homegrown militance, activists and analysts said, Tunisia needs a program to rehabilitate militants returning from places such as Syria and Libya. Political leaders blamed poverty and inadequate religious education for the increase in the number of Tunisian-based jihadists.
In addition, at least one Tunisian security officer died. Officials neither provided details on the identities of the arrested suspects nor described their alleged roles. “We don’t have any other choice but to beat it. But it has to be a comprehensive approach,” commented Said Ferjani, a high-ranking official in Ennahda, a large moderate Islamist party.
Authorities named Yassine Laabidi and Saber — also known as Hatem — Khachnaoui as the militants who stormed the Bardo National Museum. Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid had said earlier Thursday that their links to jihadist groups were unclear. Tunisia’s security forces needed improvement, he said, and “our economy is in very bad shape.”
But a friend of Khachnaoui’s family said in an interview that police detained three of the young man’s relatives in a town in central Tunisia. It was important, he said, that “there is no collective punishment and that we do not infringe on people’s rights.”
The friend, Nidal Abdelli, said that Khachnaoui, 19, disappeared about three months ago and that the Tunisian Interior Ministry later informed the family that he had traveled to Derna, in eastern Libya, apparently to receive training. A group loyal to the Islamic State is reported to control parts of Derna, although other jihadist groups are also active there, including the al-Qaeda-inspired Ansar al-Sharia. He also said the country needed a new breed of Islamic scholars, “who not only have an in-depth knowledge of theology but also sociology, and Western philosophy.”
Abdelli, 29, said the Khachnaouis are a poor family from the town of Sbetla in Kasserine province. Police have arrested Saber Khachnaoui’s father, sister and a brother, Abdelli said. He also stated that when Saber disappeared, his father notified police in Kasserine and the Interior Ministry in Tunis. Nonetheless, the young man managed to reenter the country. “Tunisia’s role is as a bridge between the East and the West,” he said. “We should play that role.”
“He’s a kid,” Abdelli said of ­Saber. “He doesn’t know anything. But he’s a victim as much as he is a terrorist. He’s a pawn in a much bigger game.” Hend Hassassi in Tunis and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
“And there was no system in place to prevent him from being radicalized or to get him out once he had been brainwashed,” he said.
Authoritarian leaders for decades imposed secularism on this Mediterranean nation of about 11 million people, most of whom are Muslim. But mass demonstrations in 2011 by citizens angry about corruption and unemployment forced autocratic leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country. In the more democratic period that followed, extremist groups were able to recruit with greater freedom.
Kasserine was one of the provinces where protests were strong during the revolution, Abdelli said.
“It’s clear that the economic and social issues in places like Kasserine have not been addressed since 2011,” Abdelli said.
In an interview with RTL, a French radio network, Prime Minister Essid said Laabidi had been flagged to intelligence officials, although not for “anything special.” His remarks raised questions about why Tunisian counterterrorism officials had not been more effective.
[Read: Tunisia sends most foreign fighters to Islamic State in Syria]
At the museum on Thursday, police deployed riot vans, barbed wire and dogs as they guarded the entrance.
The attack appeared intended to strike a blow to tourism, a major source of Tunisia’s revenue. It was the worst militant violence here in a decade.
Two cruise ships, whose passengers were among those killed, reached Spain on Friday.
In the port of Palma, Spanish cruise ship passenger Catalina Llinas told reporters she and her husband visited the Roman ruins of Carthage instead of joining the trip to the Bardo National Museum.
“It could have been us,” she said.
Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
Watch: Islamic State claims responsibility for museum rampageWatch: Islamic State claims responsibility for museum rampage
Attack stokes fears across North AfricaAttack stokes fears across North Africa
Bardo museum is home to amazing treasuresBardo museum is home to amazing treasures