A Tunisian naval guard shot and killed a colleague and two civilians Tuesday near a synagogue on the island of Djerba during an annual Jewish pilgrimage, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said. Ten others were injured and the attacker was slain by security guards.
The civilians killed were French and Tunisian, the ministry said. It was not immediately clear if they were pilgrims attending ceremonies near the 2,500-year-old Ghriba synagogue.
The injured include six security agents and four civilians, the ministry said.
The assailant, a guard affiliated with the National Guard naval centre in the town of Aghir on Djerba, first killed a colleague with his service weapon, then seized ammunition and sought to reach the Ghriba synagogue, according to ministry.
When he reached the area, the ministry said, the guard opened fire on security units stationed at the temple.
The synagogue was locked down and those inside were kept secure while authorities investigated the motives for the attack, the ministry said.
The shooting occurred during an annual pilgrimage that attracts thousands of visitors from around the world to one of Africa’s oldest synagogues. Djerba is home to Tunisia’s main Jewish community.
In 2002, a truck bomb killed some 20 people at the entrance to the temple during the pilgrimage on Djerba. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for that 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 appealed for help on Facebook.
“They are shooting with live ammunition. Help us,” she pleaded in a post.
Videos circulating online showed panic-stricken visitors running while gunshots rang out.
Former tourism minister Rene Trabelsi, a native of Djerba, said this year’s pilgrimage had so far been festive and “successful” including several political figures and foreign diplomats who participated.