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| Africa North | |
| Two presidential guards killed in Tunis bus bomb attack | |
| 2015-11-25 | |
| A bomb blast on a bus transporting Tunisia's presidential guard in central Tunis on Tuesday killed at least 12 people and wounded 16, the interior ministry said. A security source at the site of the attack said "most of the agents who were on the bus are dead." The presidency had said the blast on the bus killed at least 14 people, but this was revised down, with the interior ministry giving the latest toll as least 12 dead. The explosion, described as an "attack" by presidential spokesman Moez Sinaoui, struck on the capital's Mohamed V Avenue, a ministry official told AFP. An AFP journalist reported seeing the partly burnt-out shell of the bus, with police, ambulances and fire trucks at the scene. Many people were in tears. A bank employee working nearby reported hearing a large explosion and seeing the bus on fire. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Tunisia has been plagued by violence since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisia president declares state of emergency, curfew after bombing [AlAhram] Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi declared a nationwide state of emergency and curfew in Tunis after a deadly kaboom Tuesday on a presidential guard bus in the capital. "As a result of this painful event, this great tragedy... I proclaim a state of emergency for 30 days under the terms of law, and a curfew in greater Tunis from 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) until 5:00 am (0400 GMT) tomorrow," he said in a televised address.
IS said a Tunisian, named as Abou Abdallah al-Tounissi, had boarded the bus wearing an explosives belt only a few hundred meters (yards) from the interior ministry as it picked up guards on their way to work. Twelve of them were killed and 20 other people wounded, including four civilians, according to the health ministry. IS said in a statement shared on jihadist social media that 20 people had died. It published a photo of the attacker dressed in white and wearing an explosives vest, his head and face covered with a scarf. The interior ministry said 10 kilos of Semtex explosives were used. It added that a 13th body "is believed to be that of the terrorist who caused the explosion", and that DNA tests were being conducted to identify the person. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |