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A Tunisian navy guard shot and killed his co-worker and two civilians near a synagogue on the island of Djerba during the annual Jewish pilgrimage, Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said. Ten others were wounded and the attackers were killed by security guards.
The dead civilians were French and Tunisian, the ministry said. It is unclear whether he was a pilgrim attending a ceremony near the 2,500-year-old Ghriba synagogue.
The wounded included six security agents and four civilians, the ministry said.
Assailant, a guard affiliated with the naval center of the National Guard in the town of Aghir in Djerba, first killed a colleague with a service weapon, then seized ammunition and tried to reach the Ghriba synagogue, according to the ministry.
When he reached the area, the ministry said, the guards opened fire on security units stationed at the temple.
The synagogue was locked down and those inside were kept safe while authorities investigated the motive for the attack, the ministry said.
The shooting happened during the annual pilgrimage that draws thousands of visitors from around the world to one of Africa’s oldest synagogues. Djerba is home to the main Jewish community in Tunisia.
In 2002, a truck bomb killed about 20 people at the entrance to a temple during a pilgrimage in Djerba. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, whose victims included German and French tourists as well as Tunisians
Ghayda Thabet, a member of the Tunisian Association for the Support of Minorities, was at the Ghriba synagogue and asked for help on Facebook.
“They are shooting with live ammunition. Help us,” he pleaded in the post.
A video circulating online shows panicked patrons running as gunshots rang out.
Former tourism minister Rene Trabelsi, a native of Djerba, said this year’s pilgrimage had been festive and “successful” including a number of political figures and foreign diplomats who had participated.
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