At least 22 people, including 20 foreign tourists, have been killed in a brazen daytime attack by gunmen on a museum next to parliament in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, BBC reports.
Italian, Spanish, Polish and German citizens were among those killed, as well as a Tunisian and a police officer, PM Habib Essid said.
Security forces killed two gunmen and were searching for accomplices, he added.
The attack happened at the Bardo Museum in central Tunis and at the time of the attack deputies in the neighbouring parliamentary building were discussing anti-terrorism legislation. Parliament was evacuated following the attack.
“It is a critical moment in our history, and a defining moment for our future,” Essid said.
“We have not established the identity of the two terrorists,” he said, adding: “Reports are not final, these two terrorists could have been assisted by two or three other operatives.”
Security operations were “still underway”, with forces “continuing to comb the area to find out the remaining operatives, if any.”
The remaining hostages held at the museum had been freed
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he condemned the “terrorist attack in the strongest terms... we are very alert about how the situation is evolving”, he added.
