ALBAWABA Two tourists and two security guards have been killed in attack near Africa's oldest synagogue, on the Tunisian island of Djerba, on Tuesday.
Officials clarified that the assailant, a security officer affiliated with the naval center of the National Guard in Aghir, killed a colleague and then fired at security personnel in the vicinity of the El Ghriba Synagogue, killing one French and one Tunisian visitor and a security officer as well as wounding nine others before security forces killed him in an exchange of fire.
Security forces cordoned off the synagogue, where Jewish worshippers were celebrating the Lag BaOmer holiday at the time of the attack
The shooting occurred during an annual Jewish pilgrimage in the country.
The sound of gunshots at the synagogue had sparked panic among the hundreds of pilgrims, local media reported.
The synagogue was previously targeted in a suicide truck bombing that killed 21 in 2002.
The annual pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue regularly draws hundreds of Jews from Europe and Israel to the island of Djerba which is around 500 kilometres away from the capital city of Tunis.
