Tunisia synagogue attacker killed comrade before shooting dead 2 worshipers, guard

By AFP and ToI Staff 10 May 2023, 8:45 am

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FILE - A tourist visits La Ghriba, the oldest synagogue in Africa, on the Island of Djerba, southern Tunisia, Oct. 28, 2015 (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

Tunisian authorities say a naval officer who killed two worshipers and a guard at a synagogue on the island of Djerba killed a comrade prior to the attack so that he could take his ammunition.

The attack took place on Tuesday evening as hundreds of Jews held an annual pilgrimage there.

After shooting his comrade, he went to the synagogue — Africa’s oldest — as hundreds of people were taking part in the annual pilgrimage, which was drawing to a close, according to the interior ministry.

“Investigations are continuing in order to shed light on the motives for this cowardly aggression,” the ministry says, refraining from referring to the shooting as a terrorist attack.

Two worshipers were killed in the attack — identified by Tunisian authorities as a Tunisian citizen, 30, and a French national, 42. A security guard at the synagogue was also killed.

The synagogue was previously targeted in a suicide truck bombing that killed 21 in 2002.