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ISIL claims responsibility for deadly attack in Tunisia

Arab World Materials 19 March 2015 23:10 (UTC +04:00)
The ISIL terrorist Takfiri group, already known for its brutal massacre of civilians in the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed a midweek attack on Tunisia’s national museum, which killed close to dozens.
ISIL claims responsibility for deadly attack in Tunisia

The ISIL terrorist Takfiri group, already known for its brutal massacre of civilians in the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed a midweek attack on Tunisia's national museum, which killed close to dozens, Press TV reported.

The group posted an audio message on the internet Thursday, claiming responsibility for the attack which saw 23 people, including 19 foreign nationals, killed.

ISIL claimed that the terrorist attack, which drew huge condemnation from the international community, was "only the start," threatening to carry out similar operations in the North African country.

Tunisian officials said 23 people, including two gunmen, were killed in the attack on the museum. Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid identified the nationalities of the foreigners as British, Japanese, Italian, Colombian, Spaniard, Australian, Pole and French.

The office of Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi announced Thursday that nine people with links to gunmen have been arrested with four of them believed to be directly connected to the attackers. Reports suggest that two or three other gunmen are still at large.

Security has been beefed up along Tunisia's porous borders with Libya and Algeria, while Essebsi has ordered the army troops to be deployed in large cities.

Since 2012, Tunisian security forces have been engaged in a massive operation against the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups which mainly operate in the Mount Chaambi region near the Algerian border.

The North African country is seen as the cradle of the popular protests against Arab rulers after an uprising erupted in 2011 against the former president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The removal of the dictator, however, sparked a new wave of terrorist attacks on security forces and police, killing dozens of them across the country.

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