Attack at mosque in Tunisia leaves 4 dead

A Tunisian navy soldier shot dead a colleague and two others as he tried to reach a synagogue on the Mediterranean island of Djerba.

The Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba, Tunisia. (Photo: AP)

The shooting took place on May 9 (local time) during an annual Jewish pilgrimage, according to the Tunisian Interior Ministry .

The attacker was killed by security guards. In addition to the dead victims, 10 others were injured.

The motive for the attack is under investigation.

Djerba, a picturesque island off the southern coast of Tunisia, is home to the North African country's main Jewish community.

The Tunisian Foreign Ministry said the two people killed were French and Tunisian citizens. It was not immediately clear whether they were pilgrims attending ceremonies at the 2,500-year-old Ghriba shrine, one of the oldest in Africa.

Meanwhile, according to Tunisia's Interior Ministry, the injured included six security personnel and four civilians. The statement did not specify how they were injured or whether all were shot by the attacker.

The shooter, a soldier attached to the Tunisian National Guard Naval Center in the port town of Aghir on the island of Djerba, first shot dead a colleague with his service weapon, then went to the Ghriba synagogue.

Upon arriving at the location, the suspect opened fire on security forces stationed at the mosque. Security forces returned fire and killed the suspect before he reached the entrance to the Ghriba mosque. The mosque was then placed on lockdown and those inside and outside were kept safe while authorities investigated the motive for the attack.

Videos circulating online show tourists running away in panic as gunshots ring out.

The attack occurred during an annual pilgrimage that attracts thousands of visitors from around the world to the island of Djerba.

In 2002, a truck bomb killed about 20 people at the entrance to a shrine during the annual Jewish pilgrimage. The victims included German and French tourists as well as Tunisians. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack.

In 2015, in Tunisia, an attack in the Mediterranean resort of Sousse killed 38 people, mostly British tourists. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack, along with attacks that same year on the famous Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis and on a bus carrying Tunisian presidential bodyguards.

According to VTV.vn

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