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[h=4]Accomplices sought in Tunisia terror attack[/h]Armed terrorists stormed an iconic museum and killed 18 people Wednesday before security forces swept in, killed two gunmen, freed hostages and launched a manhunt for more perpetrators.
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More than 20 people, including 17 European tourists, were killed in the Tunisian capital of Tunis Wednesday after gunman stormed tour buses that were unloading at the National Bardo Museum near the city center. (March 18) AP
Tourists and visitors from the Bardo Museum are evacuated in Tunis on Wednesday after gunmen opened fire.(Photo: Hassene Dridi, AP)
TUNIS, Tunisia — A massive manhunt was underway for two or three accomplices after terrorists stormed a museum Wednesday, took hostages and killed 20 people, most of them tourists. Two gunmen were killed when authorities swept in and freed the hostages.
No group claimed responsibility, and Tunisian authorities did not say who was behind the bold assault on a popular tourist attraction and birthplace of the Arab Spring movement, which led to successful democratic elections.
"I want the people of Tunisia to understand firstly and lastly that we are in a war with terror, and these savage minority groups will not frighten us," newly elected President Beji Caid Essebsi said in an evening address to the nation. "The fight against them will continue until they are exterminated."
Prime Minister Habib Essid identified the slain gunmen as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui, both Tunisians.
The attack was at the Bardo, a popular tourist attraction that houses one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics.
Some of the Italians at the museum were believed to have been passengers from the Costa Fascinosa, a cruise liner that had docked in Tunis while on a seven-day tour of the western Mediterranean. Ship owner Costa Crociere confirmed that some of its 3,161 passengers were visiting Tunis and that a Bardo tour was on the itinerary, but said it couldn't confirm how many were in the museum.
Late Wednesday, parliament held an extraordinary session where Speaker Mohammed Ennaceur called for the creation of a special fund to combat terrorism and passage of an anti-terror law. Thousands of people gathered at a downtown landmark for an evening rally.
Officials said that in addition to the gunmen, 20 people were dead, most of them tourists from Poland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Colombia. At least two people killed by the gunmen were Tunisians.
Essid said 19 were killed in the initial attack, including 17 foreign tourists from Spain, Germany, Poland and Italy. A security officer was killed in the battle to retake the museum, he said in a live radio address. At least 22 tourists and two Tunisians were wounded. The injured included British, Italian, French, Spanish and Polish nationals.
The scene was chaotic with people being evacuated from the nearby buildings including parliament, which was discussing anti-terrorism legislation, Essid said.
Tour guide Walid Ben Cheikh, 41, said he was accompanying an Italian group of cruise tourists and had just stepped off a bus when an armed young man in plainclothes started firing randomly with his automatic weapon, he said. He ran to the museum.
"Today, I decided to put an end to my guiding career," he said. "I have a little daughter. I do not want her to lose her father forever."
"This is a tragedy, a catastrophe for Tunisia," he added. "What they have done is cowardly."
Tunisia, the northernmost African nation, has struggled with militants since a revolution ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Since then, there have been assassinations of liberal, secular politicians and attacks on tourist haunts.
"Many are taking opportunities to undermine our homeland," Essid said. "We will act relentlessly, without mercy."
Thousands of Tunisians have joined the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq and many have returned home, the government has said.
"With the attack that has struck Tunis today, the (Islamic State) terrorist organization is once again targeting the countries and peoples of the Mediterranean region," Federica Mogherini, the European Union's representative for Foreign Affairs, said in a statement
The Bardo Museum, which dates to the 15th century, chronicles Tunisia's history and includes one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics. It is adjacent to the country's parliament in the capital of Tunis.
Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956, and most of its 11 million people speak the language. Tunisia adopted a constitution in 2014 that guaranteed rights for women and mandated that the president's religion be Islam.
"It is not by chance that today's terrorism affects a country that represents hope for the Arab world," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement. "The hope for peace, the hope for stability, the hope for democracy. This hope must live."
Paul Salem, vice president for policy and research at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said Tunisia has had a radicalization problem since the Arab uprising.
The largest foreign group of radical fighters in Syria are from Tunisia, he said. That's partly because parts of Tunisia have become radicalized — and because of geography, Salem said.
"Libya is next-door. There are a lot of training camps for Tunisians to go to and then move on to Syria," he said.
Even so, Tunisia has set an example for its neighbors in the region that also saw revolutions. Syria, Libya and Yemen are disintegrating into lawlessness and terrorism, and Egyptians have seen their freedoms curtailed and terrorism surge under yet another military-backed regime.
In Tunisia, the Muslim Brotherhood — known locally as Ennahda — stepped down after protests following a political assassination of a liberal leader and opened the way for successful elections in fall 2014.
Analysts said they didn't believe the attack would have a major impact on the political course of Tunisia itself.
"The government went through a difficult period in 2013 but has found a very positive way forward with a good constitution and election," Salem said. "Ennahda has been very strong in his condemnation of radicalization and violence, different from the brotherhood in Egypt that did not take such a clear position."
"Unfortunately, it will have an impact on tourism," he added.
Tunisia has long attracted Europeans in large numbers because of its beaches, mountains, the Sahara and its antiquities. Before 2011, 12% of the working population worked in the sector, which contributed about 7% to GDP. But tourism declined sharply since then and has only partially recovered, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
Meanwhile, residents here were in shock over the attack.
"I feel sad about what happened to the victims, I feel sorry for this country," said Walid Ben Salah, 34, a lawyer in Tunis. "Tunisia deserves better than this! Who did this today has no relation with Islam."
Wecker reported from Berlin. Contributing: John Bacon in McLean, Va.
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