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[h=4]Gunmen kill 20 in Tunisia museum rampage[/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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Two gunmen killed more than a dozen people in a terror attack at the Bardo Museum in Tunisia's capital. Several others were hurt before the gunmen were killed by Tunisian security forces.
Tourists and visitors from the Bardo Museum are evacuated in Tunis on Wednesday after gunmen opened fire.(Photo: Hassene Dridi, AP)
TUNIS, Tunisia — Armed terrorists stormed an iconic museum and killed 19 people and a security officer Wednesday. Authorities swept in, killed two gunmen, freed hostages and launched a manhunt for more perpetrators.
The bold assault on a popular tourist attraction raised fresh fears over security and economic recovery in the birthplace of the Arab Spring that had recently conducted successful democratic elections.
Tunisian Prime Minister Habib 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."
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, and Tunisian authorities did not say who was behind it. 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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