Djerba
Ministry: dead after attack on synagogue in Tunisia
The El Ghriba Synagogue is an important building for the Jewish community on the Tunisian island of Djerba. photo
© Hasan Mrad/IMAGESLIVE via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The perpetrator is apparently a security officer. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
At least four people have been killed in an attack on a synagogue in Tunisia. In addition to two visitors to the Jewish house of worship, a security guard and the attacker himself were also killed in the incident on the island of Djerba, the North African country’s interior ministry announced late yesterday evening.
Accordingly, a security officer is said to have first killed a colleague and then “randomly” shot around in front of the synagogue. The attacker was eventually killed by security forces. Accordingly, four other believers and six security guards were injured. The course of the crime and the backgrounds were under investigation, it said.
The Jewish festival Lag Baomer, for which many believers from Israel and numerous other countries travel to Tunisia every year, is taking place in the synagogue these days. According to Israeli media reports, around 1,000 people were in the church during the crime.
Tunisia does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, but exceptionally allows its citizens to enter the country as part of organized tours for the festival. A total of 20 people, including 14 German tourists, were killed in an attack by the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda on the same synagogue in 2002.