TUNIS, Tunisia — An assailant with a knife wounded two police officers guarding a synagogue in the center of the Tunisian capital overnight, the interior ministry said Friday.
The man had been imprisoned over a “terrorism” case and released in 2021, interior ministry spokesman Fakher Bouzghaya told AFP.
The suspect assaulted police deployed to guard the Grand Synagogue of Tunis in the city center, lightly wounding two officers before being overpowered.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was in the synagogue at the time.
Bouzghaya said an investigation was underway.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Before its independence from France in 1956, Tunisia was home to over 100,000 Jews, but emigration has seen their numbers fall to around a thousand.
Since the revolution that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, the country has seen a number of jihadist attacks that have killed dozens of people.
The latest attack comes with the country in a deep economic and political crisis almost a year since President Kais Saied’s July 2021 power grab.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
