Tunisia beach attack

This item appears on page 16 of the August 2015 issue.

In the northeastern Tunisian resort city of Sousse on June 26, a gunman attacked a private beach and the lobby and pool area of Hotel Riu Imperial Marhaba, killing 37 tourists and injuring at least 36 more people. Among the tourists killed were 30 from the UK, three people from Ireland, two from Germany and one each from Belgium and Portugal. The gunman was killed by police. 

The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the shooting.

This was the second attack on tourists in Tunisia in 2015. In March, gunmen allied with IS attacked the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, killing 22 people. To combat terrorist attacks against tourists, on July 1 Tunisia created an armed tourism police force of nearly 1,000 officers to patrol popular areas.