Tourists and visitors from the Bardo Museum are evacuated in Tunis, on Wednesday, after gunmen opened fire.(Photo: Hassene Dridi, AP)
Tunisian security forces stormed a museum rich with antiquities and killed two gunmen after a terror attack left 18 people dead, authorities said.
Habib Essid, prime minister of the overwhelmingly Muslim nation, said a manhunt was underway for two or three more gunmen, the Associated Press reported. Essid said 17 tourists and a cleaning woman died in the attack.
Government spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroul said at least two "Islamist" gunmen armed with automatic weapons shot their way into the building, killing tourists and taking hostages. Two gunmen and one security officer died in the operation to retake the building, Ali Aroul said.
"Many are taking opportunities to undermine our homeland," Essid said, according to the
Guardian. "We will act relentlessly, without mercy."
Security forces were sweeping the area in an effort to ensure the surrounding area, which includes the nation's parliament building, was secure.
"A terrorist attack (targeted) the Bardo Museum," Ali Aroui said, according to
Al Aribiya and other news outlets. Aroui said "two or more terrorists armed with Kalashnikovs" were involved, and that most tourists were quickly evacuated.
At least six people were wounded, the Associated Press reported. Poland's foreign ministry said three Polish nationals were among them,
the Guardian reported,
British, Italian, French and Spanish nationals were among those taken hostage,
BBC reported, citing local radio reports.
The Bardo Museum, which dates to the 15 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 Tunis.
The gunfire could be heard at the parliament building, which was evacuated. Anti-terrorism legislation was being discussed when the attack took place, the BBC reported.
Tunisia, the northern most African nation, has struggled with violence by Islamic extremists since mass protests ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. 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."
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