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| Tunisian police hunt for accomplices to tourist beach attack | |
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| Investigators in Tunisia are searching for one or more accomplices in the attack on a luxury hotel in the resort city of Sousse that killed at least 38,as police question four people close to the gunman. | |
| An interior ministry spokesman said on Sunday that investigators were “sure” the attacker – 24-year-old student Seifeddine Rezgui, who was killed by police on Friday after his assault on the Imperial Marhaba hotel – had help. | |
| Mohammed Ali Aroui told the Associated Press that “we are sure that others helped but did not participate” except indirectly. He said Rezgui’s father and three roommates in Kairouan, where he studied, had been detained for questioning. | |
| Meanwhile, the British government has sent a team of police and security experts to Tunisia to help guard against further terror attacks in the Sousse beach resort, the home secretary, Theresa May, has confirmed. | |
| The move came as the UK’s former counter-terrorism chief warned that emboldened jihadis were plotting to kill westerners anywhere in the world, and that stopping them from accessing public areas such as beaches was near-impossible. | The move came as the UK’s former counter-terrorism chief warned that emboldened jihadis were plotting to kill westerners anywhere in the world, and that stopping them from accessing public areas such as beaches was near-impossible. |
| Peter Clarke, who was in charge of Scotland Yard’s response to the 7/7 London bombings, said terrorists’ choice of targets had widened. He said: “It’s everything from government installations, to nightclubs to the energy sector, to holiday destinations. The common theme is to kill as many people as possible.” | Peter Clarke, who was in charge of Scotland Yard’s response to the 7/7 London bombings, said terrorists’ choice of targets had widened. He said: “It’s everything from government installations, to nightclubs to the energy sector, to holiday destinations. The common theme is to kill as many people as possible.” |
| “How do you protect a coastline?” Clarke said of the beach attack. “There is going to be vulnerability, that is just a fact of life.” | “How do you protect a coastline?” Clarke said of the beach attack. “There is going to be vulnerability, that is just a fact of life.” |
| He said he did not believe Britons would be put off taking holidays abroad, but might seek further reassurances from their travel companies about the threats facing places they were traveling to. | He said he did not believe Britons would be put off taking holidays abroad, but might seek further reassurances from their travel companies about the threats facing places they were traveling to. |
| Clarke said the gunman would have visited the scene before his rampage. He said: “It’s very unlikely an attack like this [could happen] without any planning or reconnaissance.” | Clarke said the gunman would have visited the scene before his rampage. He said: “It’s very unlikely an attack like this [could happen] without any planning or reconnaissance.” |
| Following a meeting of the government’s Cobra security committee on Sunday, May said the government was increasing the size of its security team in Tunisia to “look at protective security arrangement around tourist resorts” and which will “assess additional security requirements”. | Following a meeting of the government’s Cobra security committee on Sunday, May said the government was increasing the size of its security team in Tunisia to “look at protective security arrangement around tourist resorts” and which will “assess additional security requirements”. |
| Tunisia’s interior ministry announced that 1,000 extra officers would patrol hotels and beach resorts. Armed officers were visible outside the hotel where Friday’s attack took place. | Tunisia’s interior ministry announced that 1,000 extra officers would patrol hotels and beach resorts. Armed officers were visible outside the hotel where Friday’s attack took place. |
| The Foreign Office has warned of further potential attacks in Tunisia, while Scotland Yard announced it was tightening security at key events in the UK – including Wimbledon, which starts on Monday and will run over the tenth anniversary of the 7 July bombings. | The Foreign Office has warned of further potential attacks in Tunisia, while Scotland Yard announced it was tightening security at key events in the UK – including Wimbledon, which starts on Monday and will run over the tenth anniversary of the 7 July bombings. |
| Amid increasing tensions over the threat posed to Britons by Islamic State, one former head of the British army, Lord Dannatt, said the west should take the fight to the extremist group on the ground, in their heartlands. | Amid increasing tensions over the threat posed to Britons by Islamic State, one former head of the British army, Lord Dannatt, said the west should take the fight to the extremist group on the ground, in their heartlands. |
| Asked if enough was being done militarily to defeat Isis, the peer told BBC1’s Sunday Politics: “The short answer is no. We are not doing enough right across the piste.” | Asked if enough was being done militarily to defeat Isis, the peer told BBC1’s Sunday Politics: “The short answer is no. We are not doing enough right across the piste.” |
| “On the military lines we have got to do much more to support those in the region who are fighting Islamist extremists on the ground,” he added. “Yes, we can support them from the air, we should be doing more of that, but we should be doing more to support them on the ground as well. | “On the military lines we have got to do much more to support those in the region who are fighting Islamist extremists on the ground,” he added. “Yes, we can support them from the air, we should be doing more of that, but we should be doing more to support them on the ground as well. |
| “More training teams, better equipment and really giving those who are willing to fight the best chance of succeeding, because to succeed on the ground is the really important thing to do.” | “More training teams, better equipment and really giving those who are willing to fight the best chance of succeeding, because to succeed on the ground is the really important thing to do.” |
| Over the weekend, security was tightened at the Pride march in London and the Armed Forces Day parade on Saturday. Scotland Yard said security would be more stringent and more visible at Wimbledon than last year, when the overall terror threat in the UK was “substantial” rather than “severe”, the second highest level, as it is now. | Over the weekend, security was tightened at the Pride march in London and the Armed Forces Day parade on Saturday. Scotland Yard said security would be more stringent and more visible at Wimbledon than last year, when the overall terror threat in the UK was “substantial” rather than “severe”, the second highest level, as it is now. |
| Extra officers will patrol the area around the tennis tournament, there will be road closures and “a highly mobile reserve that can respond to emerging incidents”, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. Officers will be working in uniform and in plain clothes. | Extra officers will patrol the area around the tennis tournament, there will be road closures and “a highly mobile reserve that can respond to emerging incidents”, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. Officers will be working in uniform and in plain clothes. |
| The tightening of security around the tournament, which attracts up to 40,000 spectators a day, is part of a wider increase in police vigilance. The Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, national policing lead for counter-terrorism, said specialist officers were strengthening “protection and security of key sites, business and public places around the UK to help ensure they are safe for visitors and workers”. | The tightening of security around the tournament, which attracts up to 40,000 spectators a day, is part of a wider increase in police vigilance. The Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, national policing lead for counter-terrorism, said specialist officers were strengthening “protection and security of key sites, business and public places around the UK to help ensure they are safe for visitors and workers”. |
| He said: “It is right that we keep our security plans under continual review to help protect and reassure the public. There has been a significant increase in the level of counter terrorist policing activity in the UK. Last year, there were over 330 arrests – about one a day – and 89 people were convicted for terror-related offences.” | He said: “It is right that we keep our security plans under continual review to help protect and reassure the public. There has been a significant increase in the level of counter terrorist policing activity in the UK. Last year, there were over 330 arrests – about one a day – and 89 people were convicted for terror-related offences.” |
| The Foreign Office has urged travellers to Tunisia to be “especially vigilant”. Its advice said: “Further terrorist attacks in Tunisia, including in tourist resorts, are possible, including by individuals who are unknown to the authorities and whose actions are inspired by terrorist groups via social media”. | The Foreign Office has urged travellers to Tunisia to be “especially vigilant”. Its advice said: “Further terrorist attacks in Tunisia, including in tourist resorts, are possible, including by individuals who are unknown to the authorities and whose actions are inspired by terrorist groups via social media”. |
| UK security services believe an attack on the British mainland is a matter of “when”, not “if”. For about nine months the level of British police and security service efforts have been running at an intensity equivalent to that if there had been an attack. Counter-terror officials have been working consistently at a high tempo, with detectives making nearly an arrest a day of people on suspicion of terrorism offences. | UK security services believe an attack on the British mainland is a matter of “when”, not “if”. For about nine months the level of British police and security service efforts have been running at an intensity equivalent to that if there had been an attack. Counter-terror officials have been working consistently at a high tempo, with detectives making nearly an arrest a day of people on suspicion of terrorism offences. |
| Security services across the west were alarmed throughout 2014 by the growth in the potency of Islamic State, and its ability to attract western youngsters to its cause. They point out that al-Qaida still poses a substantial threat. | Security services across the west were alarmed throughout 2014 by the growth in the potency of Islamic State, and its ability to attract western youngsters to its cause. They point out that al-Qaida still poses a substantial threat. |
| In August 2014, the UK terrorist level was raised to its second highest level of “severe”, meaning a terrorist attack is highly likely. May said the heightened alert was “related to developments in Syria and Iraq, where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the west”. | In August 2014, the UK terrorist level was raised to its second highest level of “severe”, meaning a terrorist attack is highly likely. May said the heightened alert was “related to developments in Syria and Iraq, where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the west”. |
| Attacks in Sydney, New York and Ottawa in late 2014, then Paris in January 2015, demonstrated terrorists had the ability to strikeon western soil. Those attacks ranged from an individual seemingly acting alone, to a group co-ordinating their efforts and carrying out an attack involving a degree of sophistication. | Attacks in Sydney, New York and Ottawa in late 2014, then Paris in January 2015, demonstrated terrorists had the ability to strikeon western soil. Those attacks ranged from an individual seemingly acting alone, to a group co-ordinating their efforts and carrying out an attack involving a degree of sophistication. |
| The danger from so called leaderless jihad, where jihadi propaganda incites “lone wolves”, has added to the threat from more directed and sophisticated plots. The Islamist terror threat has twice claimed lives on Britain’s streets in recent years. The 2005 London attacks by four suicide bombers killed 52 people and left 750 injured, while soldier Lee Rigby was killed near the Woolwich military barracks in south London in May 2013 by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowlale. | The danger from so called leaderless jihad, where jihadi propaganda incites “lone wolves”, has added to the threat from more directed and sophisticated plots. The Islamist terror threat has twice claimed lives on Britain’s streets in recent years. The 2005 London attacks by four suicide bombers killed 52 people and left 750 injured, while soldier Lee Rigby was killed near the Woolwich military barracks in south London in May 2013 by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowlale. |