APA-Tunis (Tunisia) Four people were killed and nine others wounded in an attack on Tuesday evening after a Tunisian security guard opened fire on a Jewish synagogue in Ghriba on the island of Djerba (southeast
Tunisia).
In a statement, the Tunisian Interior ministry said two visitors to the Jewish pilgrimage of Ghriba, which took place from May 4 to 9, were the victims of the attack while four others were wounded.
The ministry added that two security guards were also killed and five others wounded in the incident.
According to the ministry, a police officer was killed by his colleague who used his individual weapon, before seizing ammunition, before trying to reach the vicinity of the synagogue of Ghriba and deliberately opened fire indiscriminately on guards at the security post stationed there.
The security forces prevented the attacker from reaching the synagogue by neutralising him, said the Interior ministry statement.
The ministry said the synagogue was secured and that investigations have been launched to know the motives of the assailant.
Held each year on the 33rd day of Passover, the Ghriba pilgrimage is at the heart of the traditions of Tunisians of the Jewish faith.
According to the organisers, more than 5,000 Jewish pilgrims, mainly from abroad, participated this year in the Ghriba pilgrimage, among the oldest synagogues in Africa, which resumed last year after two years of a pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
HA/fss/as/APA