2015 Sousse attack | |
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Part of 2015 Ramadan attacks and ISIL insurgency in Tunisia | |
The Hotel Imperial Marhaba in Sousse in 2004
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Location | Riu Imperial Marhaba and Soviva, Port El Kantaoui, Sousse, Tunisia |
Coordinates | 35°54′43.52″N 10°34′48.1″E / 35.9120889°N 10.580028°ECoordinates: 35°54′43.52″N 10°34′48.1″E / 35.9120889°N 10.580028°E |
Date | 26 June 2015 12:00 (GMT+1) |
Target | European tourists staying at a hotel |
Weapons | |
Deaths | 39 (including the perpetrator) |
Non-fatal injuries
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39 |
Perpetrators | Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Algeria Province |
On 26 June 2015, a mass shooting occurred at the tourist resort at Port El Kantaoui, about 10 kilometres north of the city of Sousse, Tunisia.
Thirty-eight people, 30 of whom were British, were killed when a gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, attacked a hotel. It was the deadliest non-state attack in the history of modern Tunisia, with more fatalities than the 22 killed in the Bardo National Museum attack 3 months before.
In October 2013, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a botched attack on a Sousse beach while security forces foiled another planned attack nearby. The post-Tunisian revolution led to the 2014 parliamentary election in which the principal secularist party gained a plurality but was unable to govern alone, and ultimately formed a national unity government. Secularist Beji Caid Essebsi was elected president in the Tunisian presidential election, 2014. Since the overthrow of Tunisian president Ben Ali, terrorism increased, leading to 60 victims among security and military troops. Other attacks targeted civilians and tourists. Despite this, Tunisia was considered to be a secure country.
On 18 March 2015, the Bardo National Museum in Tunis was attacked by three terrorists, leading to the deaths of twenty-two people, including twenty foreigners visiting the museum. Two of the gunmen, Tunisian citizens Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, were killed by police, while the third attacker is currently at large. Police treated the event as a terrorist attack. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack, and threatened to commit further attacks. However, the Tunisian government blamed a local splinter group of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, called the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade, for the attack. A police raid killed nine members on 28 March. After the Bardo attack, the government announced new security measures and declared the country safe again.