Shillong, May 10: During a yearly Jewish pilgrimage to the Mediterranean island of Djerba, a Tunisian naval guard shot and killed two people, a fellow guard, and two civilians on Tuesday, according to the Tunisian Interior Ministry. Despite security personnel killing the perpetrator, 10 people were hurt.
The attack’s motivation was the subject of an investigation. It happened at a time when Tunisia, formerly a popular tourist destination and the starting point of the pro-democracy upheavals of the Arab Spring, was experiencing a political and economic catastrophe.
The largest Jewish population in Tunisia is located on the scenic island of Djerba, which sits off the country’s southern coast.
According to the Tunisian Foreign Ministry, the victims were French and Tunisian civilians. If they were pilgrims attending rites at the 2,500-year-old Ghriba temple, one of Africa’s oldest synagogues, was not immediately clear.
According to the Interior Ministry, the injured include four civilians and six security personnel. It did not say how they were hurt or if the attacker, who was not named officially, shot any of them.
The attacker, a guard employed by the National Guard naval centre in the port city of Aghir on Djerba, is alleged to have shot and killed a coworker before taking ammunition and running towards the Ghriba synagogue, according to the ministry.
He started shooting at security personnel stationed at the temple when he arrived, but they returned fire, killing him before he could get to the entrance, according to the ministry. While officials look into the attack’s motivations, the synagogue was sealed down and everyone inside and outside was kept safe, according to the ministry.