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Gunmen attack hotel in Tunisian seaside town of Sousse Tunisia hotel attack: Gunmen kill 'at least 27' in shooting at seaside town of Sousse
(35 minutes later)
A hotel in the Tunisian town of Sousse has been attacked by gunmen, local media reports. At least 27 people are reported to have been killed in a shooting at a hotel in the Tunisian seaside town of Sousse.
Security sources told the Reuters news agency that an exchange of gunfire had been reported at the scene. Tunisia's interior ministry said two gunmen had opened fire on the beach between two hotels at the tourist resort, and that one was still on the run.
At least one gunman is reported to have been killed in the assault. Security sources told the Reuters news agency that an exchange of gunfire had been reported at the scene, and that one gunman has been killed.
Sousse sits on the Mediterranean Sea and is a popular tourist destination with fine sandy beaches and large hotel complexes. Please allow the liveblog  below to load for latest updates
The attack comes only three months after three Islamist gunmen shot dead dozens of people at the Bardo museum in the coutry’s capital Tunis. An official with the interior ministry said the death toll had risen to 27 and that it included foreign nationals. It was a dramatic increase from an earlier report of a handful of deaths.
The country’s tourist industry has been on high alert since the attack. Sousse sits on the Mediterranean Sea and is highly popular with British tourists, and is cited on holiday operator Thomson's list of prime destinations for Britons in Tunisia.
Tunisia held free elections in 2011 and 2014 after the Arab Spring uprising and has been moving towards a more democratic government. Speaking to Sky News from the hotel, one British tourist travelling with his family said they had been told to remain inside and not to go down to the beach.
He said he was on the beach and heard what "we thought was firecrackers going off" 100 yards away, followed by an explosion from the next hotel complex along.
"There was a mass exodus off the beach," he told Sky News. He said his son said he had seen someone get shot on the beach.
The attack comes only three months after three Islamist gunmen shot dead dozens of people at the Bardo museum in the country’s capital Tunis. The country’s tourist industry has been on high alert since the attack.
Experts said the Sousse attack was more likely to be the work of Isis militants than any other terror group, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
It came after an attack on a French factory just outside Lyon and a bombing of a Shia mosque in Kuwait earlier on Friday, both of which were reported to be Isis-linked.