TUNIS. The toll from the attack launched yesterday evening against the Ghriba synagogue by a National Guard officer who, shortly before, had killed a colleague 21 kilometers away by stealing his pistol. The Tunisian Ministry of the Interior made it known without putting forward any hypothesis of terrorism.
Gunfire was heard from the Ghriba synagogue, causing panic among hundreds of worshipers participating in the annual Jewish pilgrimage that was winding down. Police reinforcements were deployed around the synagogue to secure the pilgrims.
The Tunisian Interior Ministry confirmed that the attacker, an officer of the National Guard, would have killed a colleague of his in Aghir, 21 kilometers from the synagogue, whose body was found shortly after without the standard weapon. The murderer then allegedly headed towards the temple, trying to get closer «by firing random shots at the security units defending the place of worship. The agents deployed prevented him from doing so and eliminated him ». Meanwhile, he had shot 6 of them, one of them to death. Two Jewish pilgrims were also killed in the firefight. 4 other civilians were injured and transferred to Sadok Mkadem hospital, 8 kilometers from the synagogue. The ministry assures that the synagogue has been surrounded, underlining that visitors have been made safe. However, investigations are still ongoing to discover “the causes of this cowardly attack,” adds the ministry, without mentioning the word ‘terrorism’. The French embassy had previously reported “an attack near the synagogue”, while the Tunisian media spoke only of the killing of the first policeman and of shots heard in the synagogue without citing deaths or injuries.
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