Gunmen kill 27 in attack on Tunisian resort, officials say

[Lite Beer]

Gunmen kill 27 in attack on Tunisian resort, officials say

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A pair of gunmen killed at least 27 people on a Tunisian beach Friday in the latest attack on the north African country's key tourism industry, the Interior Ministry said.

The gunmen opened fire on the beach in the resort town of Sousse between the Soviva and Imperial Marhaba hotels before security forces responded, killing one of the attackers, Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said. The other attacker fled the scene, he said.

There were no details about the nationalities of the victims, but during the holy month of Ramadan Tunisia's Muslim population is less likely to go the beach, so those there would have been predominantly foreign tourists.

"There was a mass exodus off the beach," British tourist Gary Pine told Sky News, adding that his son saw someone who got shot.

He said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby.

In March, two gunmen attacked the national museum in Tunis killing at least 22 people, all but one tourists.

A group pledging allegiance to the radical Islamic State group claimed that attack and has promised more.

Since overthrowing its secular dictator in 2011, Tunisia has been plagued by terrorist attacks — though only recently have they targeted the vital tourism sector.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-26

[Lite Beer]

THE LATEST: Tourist in Tunisia heard gunfire, ran to kids
The Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The latest news from an attack on a beach resort in Tunisia (all times local):

___

2.35 p.m.

A tourist from Ireland says she was on the beach in Tunisia with her two sons when she heard what she first thought were fireworks.

Elizabeth O'Brien tells Ireland's RTE radio she looked about 500 meters away and saw a hot air balloon collapse, then heard rapid firing and saw two people who were going to go up in the balloon running toward her.

Authorities say at least 27 people have been killed in the attack on the beach there.

O'Brien says she rushed to the sea to get her children and that waiters and security on the beach urged them to run as they raced toward the hotel. They ran to their room and holed up there.

She says her travel agent told her to go talk to someone at the reception desk but she's too afraid to leave the room.

___

2.30 p.m.

British Prime Minister David Cameron says the government's crisis committee, COBRA, will meet later Friday in response to the attacks in France and Tunisia.

He offered condolences and "our solidarity in fighting this evil of terrorism."

"The people who do these things, they sometimes claim to do it in the name of Islam," Cameron said. "They don't. Islam is a religion of peace."

He said the attackers acted from "a twisted and perverted ideology we have to confront with everything we have."

___

2.20 p.m.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui says the police operation to catch the second gunman behind the attack on the beach resort is ongoing and the exchange of fire is continuing.

He says one gunman behind "the terrorist attack was killed during an exchange of fire with security forces."

"A terrorist infiltrated the buildings from the back before opening fire on the residents of the hotel, including foreigners and Tunisians," he said.

At least 27 people have been killed in the attack near two hotels in the coastal resort city of Sousse.

___

2 p.m.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has confirmed that one of the two beachside hotels where tourists were shot in Tunisia, killing at least 27 people, is owned by a Spanish company.

Rajoy said from Brussels that the attacks Friday in Tunisia and in France were both acts of terror but did not provide more details.

Tunisian officials identified the hotel Rajoy referred to as the Hotel Riu Imperial Marhaba in the Port El Kantaoui neighborhood of Sousse. It is owned by Spain's RIU Hotels & Resorts, which has more than 100 hotels in 19 countries.

The company's media office said RIU's board of directors was holding an emergency meeting following the attack.

The media office had no immediate comment on what happened or the nationalities of victims but said the company planned to issue a statement.

___

1:45 p.m.

Tunisia's Interior Ministry spokesman has told the state news agency that the toll in an attack on a beach resort has risen to 27.

Mohammed Ali Aroui described the victims as mostly tourists but did not give any nationalities. Local radio has said those killed Friday in the resort of Sousse were mostly German and British.

___

1:25 p.m.

Tunisian state television says the number of people killed in an attack on a tourist resort is now 19 after two gunmen opened fire on beachgoers.

There have been no details on the nationalities of those killed in the resort of Sousse on Friday, but during the holy month of Ramadan, those on the beach tend to be tourists.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said security forces intervened immediately and killed one of the attackers, the other fled the scene.

___

1:20 p.m.

A British tourist close to the scene of a deadly attack on a Tunisian beach resort has described his experiences.

Gary Pine said he was on the beach and heard what "we thought was firecrackers going off" 100 yards away, followed by an explosion from the next hotel complex along.

"There was a mass exodus off the beach," he told Sky News. He said his son said he had seen someone get shot on the beach.

He said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby.

Tunisia's Interior Ministry says two gunmen opened fire on a beach in the coastal resort of Sousse Friday, killing at least seven people.

___

1 p.m.

Tunisia's Interior Ministry says two gunmen opened fire on a beach near two hotels in the coastal resort city of Sousse, killing at least seven people.

Interior Ministry Spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said that one of the gunmen was killed and police are pursuing the other.

Sousse, some 150 kilometers from Tunis, is a popular resort for both Tunisians and Europeans.

Aroui said the death toll could rise.

Tunisia has been battered by attacks by militants, most recently in March when two Tunisians returning from Libya killed 22 people at the national museum.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-26

[manarak]

How disgusting, please engage ground troops against ISIS

[RickBradford]

Suggested response:

Drop a MOAB on Raqqa, the self-declared capital of IS's caliphate.

Thousands of innocents will die alongside the IS crazies, perhaps, and maybe the Tunisian and French attacks weren't IS anyway. Too bad. The conflict is coming, so let's bring it on. These crazies only respect force, so the West needs to show them some. Anything else is seen as weakness, and becomes motivation for more attacks.

Then, back the Kurdish fighters with everything we have, tell the Turks to stand still or get some of the same.

I think it was Churchill, talking about the UK's decision to enter WWII only when Germany invaded Poland, as saying something like "declared war for the worst possible reason at the worst possible time in the worst possible place."

That's the same sort of inaction we'll get from the idiotic West, again.

[Steely Dan]

Sadly I suspect the western response will be to try and impose a deadline for a two state solution. Of course then Islamists will behave like choirboys and Islam will become the religion of peace.

@Rick Bradford, not that I disagree, but what to do about Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Malmö etc?

Edited June 26, 2015 by Steely Dan

[Usernames]

At the very least, keep people from entering Europe illegally from these countries. Swamped with refugees who are burning with this ideology will end up sweeping Europe off the map.

[F430murci]

At the very least, keep people from entering Europe illegally from these countries. Swamped with refugees who are burning with this ideology will end up sweeping Europe off the map.

Yeah right. Everyone is letting these dang boat people in because we are all bleeding hearts and try to help, but look what happens. You extend help to some of these folks and they just take your money or hand outs and use that money to fund terrorism or kill you. There is just no way to accurately screen these folks and determine how they will later act.

This stuff is just awful. Families gunned down while trying to enjoy vacations . . .

Edited June 26, 2015 by F430murci

[Cuchulainn]

And WHAT, exactly, does this slaughter of innocents achieve?

[Lissos]

said. "They don't. Islam is a religion of peace."

You know Western Culture is on its knees when this lie is an obligatory utterance.

Even more grating when a British Prime Minister utters it. What a plank!!!

[NeverSure]

That's the same sort of inaction we'll get from the idiotic West, again.

That's the same sort of inaction we'll get from the idiotic West W. Europe, again.

The outcomes of such attempts in Texas recently were ever so different. They aren't going to get away with their shit in my neighborhood either, no matter what the loony, brain dead leftists would like.

The blissfully ignorant W. Europeans are going to get steamrolled, and probably in my lifetime. It will happen to them while they sit smugly protesting that their way is better. They are going to eat all of their smugness.

[NeverSure]

And WHAT, exactly, does this slaughter of innocents achieve?

On which side? I would hope that the slaughter of innocent non-Muslims would achieve being a wake up call for the West. That's not likely in PC W. Europe.

The slaughter of innocents in terrorist areas would do exactly what the slaughter of innocents in Germany did in WWII. I would either wipe them out or get the non-combatants to turn against the combatants. It would get the non-combatants to cry for the war to end just like the Germans did. The "innocents" need a <deleted> wake up call as to what their leaders are doing to them.

Is there ever going to come a day when the non-Muslims rise up and wipe this out? It won't with the attitudes in Europe.

BTW it was this very Tunisia that created ISIS and has to pay the price for being so hated. Oh wait. Not true. These terrorist don't care who they kill as long as they are killing someone.

[BKKBobby]

How disgusting, please engage ground troops against ISIS

Strategy against ISIS at this time is only to avoid boots on the ground, too bad.

And if someone doesnt understand why US personell should be the first ang biggest group to di it, its logical. I dont to go off-topic PM, but if you feel the argue then PM me.

[JetsetBkk]

How disgusting, please engage ground troops against ISIS

No, no! Cannot! The wonderful POTUS has already said "No boots on the ground".

[StasD]

Thanks to the USA for Arabic Springs and I will pray that Thailand will avoid these cases

[F430murci]

Thanks to the USA for Arabic Springs and I will pray that Thailand will avoid these cases

Oh dear God, how pathetic can one be. Do you have to make everything about the US? Silly question. Of course you do because you are so jacked up and resentful about US, you use every opportunity to blame everything bad that happens on the US. May be hard to believe for you, but there are just some bad people out there that look for excuses to cause fear and harm to others.

[F430murci]

At least 37 dead now.

[Jay Sata]

Just waiting for the usual Muslim apologists to come along claiming we all have it wrong and these are nice cuddly people.

[F430murci]

Just waiting for the usual Muslim apologists to come along claiming we all have it wrong and these are nice cuddly people.

Lol, one has already resorted to to calling us the defamatory brigade. He apparently does not understand the definition of defamatory.

[samuibeachcomber]

Just waiting for the usual Muslim apologists to come along claiming we all have it wrong and these are nice cuddly people.

Lol, one has already resorted to to calling us the defamatory brigade. He apparently does not understand the definition of defamatory.

yes there's a sickness going round "we have to be nice and tolerant to everybody,even if they want to slit our throats"............

[simple1]

And WHAT, exactly, does this slaughter of innocents achieve?

To contribute to the goal of the Caliphate declared by Islamic State, the Apocalypse, as forecast in the Koran. As the PM of Australia has succinctly described DAESH, a 'death cult'. The rulers of DAESH will in the meantime be enjoying the fruits of the 7th century style of dictatorship.

Tunisians are the largest contingent of foreign nationals fighting for DAESH.

Edited June 26, 2015 by simple1

[simple1]

Thanks to the USA for Arabic Springs and I will pray that Thailand will avoid these cases

As far as I know, Thailand has more deaths at the hands of terrorists that all of the West combined. Maybe not. The US had 9/11 and a few more, but that's not nearly the 7,500 who've died at the hands of Muslim terrorist in the South of Thailand since 9/11.

These terrorist acts and deaths occur in many, many countries and some had nothing to do with any Arab Spring. These Muslims are bloody killers, and when did it start being proper to blame the victim of a crime for the acts of the criminal?

Although it's off topic, I don't believe you can link the situation in the deep South to what's happening in the West and M.E. countries. The Muslim insurgent groups (if you prefer terrorists) have not been killings Westeners. In fact the majority of those murdered by the insurgency groups are their fellow Sunni Muslim civilians, including local Imams who have condemned the killings.

[spidermike007]

I am about as moderate as they come, when it comes to Islam. I quite long held the belief that 99% of Muslims are moderate and do not support the extremist monkeys. But, having said that I think we may be heading toward a tipping point. If more moderates in a position of influence and power, such as the great and courageous King Hussein of Jordan, do not start speaking up in a loud and clear voice, against the gang raping, murderous, thieving mafias like the IS monkey clans, the general public may rise up into an anti Muslim crusade, the likes of which the world has never seen. And the horrific part is that they may then target all Muslims. It may be the Crusades, part II.

[F430murci]

Its just bad people doing bad things. All of this psychoanalysis and blame game bs is just that bs. These are bad people that for what ever reason get off in causing fear and hurting others.

[Steely Dan]

Death toll now 39, head news article on the BBC. All that remains is for our resident shark expert to come along and tell us the beach is safe and must stay open for the tourist season and this has nothing to do with Islam.

[Scott]

Numerous off-topic posts and replies removed. Please stay on topic.

[NeverSure]

Suggested response:

Drop a MOAB on Raqqa, the self-declared capital of IS's caliphate.

Thousands of innocents will die alongside the IS crazies, perhaps, and maybe the Tunisian and French attacks weren't IS anyway. Too bad. The conflict is coming, so let's bring it on. These crazies only respect force, so the West needs to show them some. Anything else is seen as weakness, and becomes motivation for more attacks.

Then, back the Kurdish fighters with everything we have, tell the Turks to stand still or get some of the same.

I think it was Churchill, talking about the UK's decision to enter WWII only when Germany invaded Poland, as saying something like "declared war for the worst possible reason at the worst possible time in the worst possible place."

That's the same sort of inaction we'll get from the idiotic West, again.

Then the far out loony left would cry out for war crime charges. Strange they don't call for war crime charges against terrorists.

I'm just waiting to see how they manage to piously blame all of this on Israel, that's all. They keep telling me that if there was that "peace settlement" all of this would stop.

[Scott]

Suggested response:

Drop a MOAB on Raqqa, the self-declared capital of IS's caliphate.

Thousands of innocents will die alongside the IS crazies, perhaps, and maybe the Tunisian and French attacks weren't IS anyway. Too bad. The conflict is coming, so let's bring it on. These crazies only respect force, so the West needs to show them some. Anything else is seen as weakness, and becomes motivation for more attacks.

Then, back the Kurdish fighters with everything we have, tell the Turks to stand still or get some of the same.

I think it was Churchill, talking about the UK's decision to enter WWII only when Germany invaded Poland, as saying something like "declared war for the worst possible reason at the worst possible time in the worst possible place."

That's the same sort of inaction we'll get from the idiotic West, again.

Then the far out loony left would cry out for war crime charges. Strange they don't call for war crime charges against terrorists.

I'm just waiting to see how they manage to piously blame all of this on Israel, that's all. They keep telling me that if there was that "peace settlement" all of this would stop.

There have been numerous off-topic posts blaming the US. A discussion of Israel isn't permitted either.

[simple1]

Terror attacks in Kuwait, France and Tunisia echo Isis methods

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/26/terror-attacks-in-kuwait-france-and-tunisia-echo-isis-methods

With regards to Tunisia the head of Islamic State in 2013 called on his supporters to take revenge where…

"a war is being waged against chastity and hijab," and where "infidelity, prostitution and adultery" are widely practiced.

[samuibeachcomber]

I am about as moderate as they come, when it comes to Islam. I quite long held the belief that 99% of Muslims are moderate and do not support the extremist monkeys. But, having said that I think we may be heading toward a tipping point. If more moderates in a position of influence and power, such as the great and courageous King Hussein of Jordan, do not start speaking up in a loud and clear voice, against the gang raping, murderous, thieving mafias like the IS monkey clans, the general public may rise up into an anti Muslim crusade, the likes of which the world has never seen. And the horrific part is that they may then target all Muslims. It may be the Crusades, part II.

It's going to happen!

[spidermike007]

Terror attacks in Kuwait, France and Tunisia echo Isis methods

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/26/terror-attacks-in-kuwait-france-and-tunisia-echo-isis-methods

With regards to Tunisia the head of Islamic State in 2013 called on his supporters to take revenge where…

"a war is being waged against chastity and hijab," and where "infidelity, prostitution and adultery" are widely practiced.

Funny that the IS pig gangs conducting this so called war are themselves rapists, adulterers, and sodomizers. In addition to being kidnappers, murderers and thieves. They are essentially gangsters co-opting religion to legitimize their crimes against humanity. The lowest of the low. Absolute pond scum.