Panic at El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia as gunshots ring outside
An attack near a synagogue in Tunisia killed security officer and two visitors on Tuesday the government said amid an annual pilgrimage to the island of Djerba that draws hundreds of Jews from Europe and Israel.
The attack was staged by a guard at a naval installation on Djerba who used his weapon to shoot a colleague and seize his ammunition before heading towards the synagogue, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The attacker fired indiscriminately at security units located near the synagogue, killing the two visitors - one French and one Tunisian - and another security officer, as well as injuring five security officers and four visitors. Security forces then shot him dead.
Gunshots were heard Tuesday night outside the El Ghriba synagogue, where an event was held to mark Lag BaOmer (A Jewish holiday) with thousands of Jews and Israelis who came especially for the event in attendance.
Local news channel Alhurra reported that shots were fired toward "a holy Jewish site in Djerba." Security forces surrounded the synagogue following reports of gunfire and placed the hundreds of worshippers inside the synagogue under lockdown as gunshots rang outside and Helicopters were constantly flying above.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry contacted Israelis who were in the area and received real-time reports from them. Among the people who were trapped in the synagogue was former MK Yomtob Kalfon
"We heard gunshots from outside the synagogue compound. We do not know exactly what happened there - there are several different versions, but we are all fine, thank God. We prayed Arvit while we were not allowed to go outside," he told Ynet.
Authorities did not identify a motive for the attack but Islamist militants have previously targeted the pilgrimage in Djerba and have staged other attacks in the country.
Tunisia's last significant attack was a blast targeting police outside the U.S. embassy in 2020 that killed one officer. Two suicide blasts targeted police outside the French embassy in 2019, also killing one officer.
Islamist militants killed scores of tourists in two separate attacks at a beach resort and a Tunis museum in 2015.
The annual pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue regularly draws hundreds of Jews from Europe and Israel to Djerba, a holiday destination off the coast of southern Tunisia, 500 km (300 miles) from the capital Tunis.
The pilgrimage has had tight security since al Qaeda militants attacked the synagogue in 2002 with a truck bomb, killing 21 Western tourists.