37 killed in attack on Tunisian tourist beach resort

[sim667]

At least 37 people, mostly foreigners, have been killed and 36 injured in an attack on a beach in the Tunisian resort town of Sousse, according to the health ministry.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33287978

Very sad

I did look for another thread but couldn't find one.

 

[weltweit]

Yes, I heard this, apparently some British casualties also, sounds pretty horrific.

 

[boohoo]

Horrible story. And not great for Tunisia's tourism industry either. I expect it's an important part of the countries economy.

 

[kebabking]

its split between the French attack and the Islamic State threads.

there was a bomb attack in a Kuwaiti Mosque, and a bomb and gun attack on an Afrcan Union base in Somalia today, as well as the more publicised attacks in France and Tunisia.

IS might be on the back foot in Syria, but their reach has grown long indeed...

 

[Buckaroo]

Horrible story. And not great for Tunisia's tourism industry either. I expect it's an important part of the countries economy.

Not anymore it's not

 

[gentlegreen]

I had to check because someone said 400,000 on the news ...

The tourism sector now represents 6.5% of Tunisia's GDP and provides 340,000 jobs of which 85,000 are direct jobs, or 11.5% of the working population with a high share of seasonal employment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Tunisia

 

[Gingerman]

No tourism and the country goes into a negative spiral,knock on effect will of course be that less and less tourists will visit Tunisia which will become more poorer and more open to fundamentalism

 

[gentlegreen]

I'm guessing tourism represents everything that the Islamists detest.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

BBC News are saying this morning that the Tunisian PM stated "the majority" of victims were British, although they've only confirmed 5 so far. Surprisingly minimal coverage though, compared to other terrorist attacks.

 

[phildwyer]

Horrible story. And not great for Tunisia's tourism industry either. I expect it's an important part of the countries economy.

15% of the GDP apparently. Tunisia was just about the last safe tourist destination in the Arab world too.

The only way to stop this is for the UK to stop meddling in the middle east. Unless and until that happens, I fear we can expect more of the same--and closer to home too.

 

[kebabking]

BBC News are saying this morning that the Tunisian PM stated "the majority" of victims were British, although they've only confirmed 5 so far...

Sky this morning are/were saying that the 37 dead figure is old, they say their local sources are now saying 60(ish) dead, with the the majority of those killed British.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

One small saving grace, it's not school holidays.

 

[kebabking]

'tis in Scotland...

 

[joustmaster]

BBC News are saying this morning that the Tunisian PM stated "the majority" of victims were British, although they've only confirmed 5 so far. Surprisingly minimal coverage though, compared to other terrorist attacks.

it pretty much covering all of the bbc news page, now.

 

[JHE]

BBC News are saying this morning that the Tunisian PM stated "the majority" of victims were British...

I wonder if that's just because the particular hotel gets British guests or whether British tourists are more reckless than others in their choice of destination.

In the last couple of years Spain has attracted record numbers of foreign tourists. One reason for that is that people who a few years ago might have chosen Egypt or Tunisia have opted for a safer country. This tendency will now be strengthened, unless Abdul manages to bomb Spanish holiday resorts too.

 

[aqua]

One small saving grace, it's not school holidays.

That was my first thought too

 

[phildwyer]

In the last couple of years Spain has attracted record numbers of foreign tourists. One reason for that is that people who a few years ago might have chosen Egypt or Tunisia have opted for a safer country. This tendency will now be strengthened, unless Abdul manages to bomb Spanish holiday resorts too.

That's unlikely because, after the Madrid train bombings, Spain pulled its troops out of Iraq--thus demonstrating that their government puts the safety of its citizens above waging imperialist war in the middle east. In contrast, the government of the UK insists on keeping its citizens in the firing line.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

it pretty much covering all of the bbc news page, now.

Yeah, I guess the Breakfast news people didn't have the full picture yet. If the numbers grow as much as Sky think, it will be a bigger loss of (British) life than the 7/7 bombings.

 

[Geri]

I wouldn't be very keen on going to Turkey right now if I was a British tourist.

 

[phildwyer]

I wouldn't be very keen on going to Turkey right now if I was a British tourist.

Innit. Well over a million refugees from Syria have crossed into Turkey in the last few months. Nobody knows who they are or, more to the point, where they are. There's been no attempt to track their movements, and thousands of them are begging in the streets of Istanbul and the Aegean resorts.

It's rumored that many of them are working in illegal coal mines owned by friends/members of the government, and that this explains the government's lack of concern over their whereabouts.

The one good thing that may come out of Erdogan's foreign policy is that it will presumably make Turkey less of a target for IS terror. Or maybe not. Scary times for sure.

 

[JHE]

That's unlikely because, after the Madrid train bombings, Spain pulled its troops out of Iraq--thus demonstrating that their government puts the safety of its citizens above waging imperialist war in the middle east. In contrast, the government of the UK insists on keeping its citizens in the firing line.

Spain remains a target. Abdul has a long memory and God tells him that land once conquered by Islam can never be relinquished before the Day of Judgement.

Sr Plod arrested a gang of Islamists a couple of months ago in Barcelona. Allegedly they were planning horrors. There have been various other busts, not least in Ceuta and Melilla. It is to be expected that the tourist sector will be an object of attack.

Following yesterday's horrors the Spanish government has now raised its assessment of the threat level to 'high', 4/5.

Madrid's biggest mosque, the M-30 Mosque (so called because it is next to a major ring road called the M-30), is 10 minutes' stroll from my home. Last year when Madrid's Cathedral decided to hold a memorial service on the tenth anniversary of the atrocity at Atocha, the imam at the M-30 Mosque objected. Holding a Catholic service was an insult, he claimed, to the Muslim and other non-Catholic victims. Earlier this year a judge who investigated recruitment to ISIS in Spain named the M-30 Mosque as a place of recruitment.

I just hope the bombers and beheaders here continue to be incompetent and sufficiently indiscreet to get themselves nicked.

 

[Dan U]

UK govt now saying most victims British

Defence sec to sky according to twitter.

 

[Spymaster]

Innit. Well over a million refugees from Syria have crossed into Turkey in the last few months. Nobody knows who they are or, more to the point, where they are. There's been no attempt to track their movements, and thousands of them are begging in the streets of Istanbul and the Aegean resorts.

It's rumored that many of them are working in illegal coal mines owned by friends/members of the government, and that this explains the government's lack of concern over their whereabouts.

The one good thing that may come out of Erdogan's foreign policy is that it will presumably make Turkey less of a target for IS terror. Or maybe not. Scary times for sure.

What are the Turkish/Greek borders like nowadays, Phil?

Does everyone get properly checked or is it pretty much a wave-through?

 

[Greebo]

<snip> I just hope the bombers and beheaders here continue to be incompetent and sufficiently indiscreet to get themselves nicked.

Why assume that they want to get away with it, instead of getting more publicity when caught and tried?

 

[JHE]

Why assume that they want to get away with it, instead of getting more publicity when caught and tried?

I assume only that they want to commit the atrocities they plan rather than getting locked up first and losing the opportunity.

 

[butchersapron]

Spain remains a target. Abdul has a long memory and God tells him that land once conquered by Islam can never be relinquished before the Day of Judgement.

Sr Plod arrested a gang of Islamists a couple of months ago in Barcelona. Allegedly they were planning horrors. There have been various other busts, not least in Ceuta and Melilla. It is to be expected that the tourist sector will be an object of attack.

Following yesterday's horrors the Spanish government has now raised its assessment of the threat level to 'high', 4/5.

Madrid's biggest mosque, the M-30 Mosque (so called because it is next to a major ring road called the M-30), is 10 minutes' stroll from my home. Last year when Madrid's Cathedral decided to hold a memorial service on the tenth anniversary of the atrocity at Atocha, the imam at the M-30 Mosque objected. Holding a Catholic service was an insult, he claimed, to the Muslim and other non-Catholic victims. Earlier this year a judge who investigated recruitment to ISIS in Spain named the M-30 Mosque as a place of recruitment.

I just hope the bombers and beheaders here continue to be incompetent and sufficiently indiscreet to get themselves nicked.

Johhny abdul eh. Idiot.

 

[phildwyer]

What are the Turkish/Greek borders like nowadays, Phil?

Does everyone get properly checked or is it pretty much a wave-through?

I can only speak for the islands of Kos and Rhodes, but everyone gets checked there. Of course it's easy to check people coming off a boat. It's also very easy to reach Kos from Turkey in a rubber tyre--you could even swim, although I suppose your ammo would get wet. I'll be doing that trip next week and will report back.

 

[Greebo]

I assume only that they want to commit the atrocities they plan rather than getting locked up first and losing the opportunity.

That depends how you look at it, you could spread just as much terror and disruption with less bloodshed by getting caught. All the lurid details in the media of the planned attempt's potential impact could feed your campaign for weeks.

I can only speak for the islands of Kos and Rhodes, but everyone gets checked there. Of course it's easy to check people coming off a boat. It's also very easy to reach Kos from Turkey in a rubber tyre--you could even swim, although I suppose your ammo would get wet. <snip>

No chance of getting hold of ziplock bags or gaffer tape equivalents in Turkey? If I can think of a way round it, somebody with stronger motives certainly would.

 

[kebabking]

Johhny abdul eh. Idiot.

tongue in cheek? i thought the 'Senór Plod' reference was rather good...

 

[tim]

I wouldn't be very keen on going to Turkey right now if I was a British tourist.

Really? Are Turkish beaches really more dangerous than: pews in the churches of the the American deep South, classrooms anywhere in the US, Idyllic islands in Norweigan fyjords; or given imminent anniversaries, London Underground in the rush hour?

And by the way, can we cut the racist ""Abdul"" crap (a message to JHE not Geri)?