TUNIS: Two worshippers participating in an annual Jewish pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in Tunisia, along with two members of the security services, were shot dead in an attack on Tuesday.
Four other visitors to the synagogue and six more security officers were wounded in the attack before the assailant was killed. The attacker was identified as a police officer who shot dead his colleague and took his ammunition before heading to the synagogue. The motive for the attack is currently under investigation.
The picturesque island of Djerba is home to Tunisia’s main Jewish community, and the Ghriba synagogue is Africa’s oldest. The annual pilgrimage draws hundreds of people, and the attack took place as the event was drawing to a close on Tuesday night.
The Tunisian foreign ministry has identified the two worshippers killed as a 30-year-old Tunisian and a 42-year-old French national but did not release their names. The Interior Ministry has stated that the six injured security agents and four civilians were receiving treatment but did not specify how they were injured or whether they were all shot by the attacker.
The assailant, who was affiliated with the National Guard naval center in the port town of Aghir on Djerba, first killed a colleague with his service weapon before heading to the Ghriba synagogue. The incident has sent shockwaves through Tunisia and the wider region, as it is the first such attack on the country’s Jewish community in several years.
