Gloomy 59th anniversary in Tunisia, as ISIS claims attack

In place of the celebration of its 59th Independence Day anniversary, Tunisia is faced with mourning and gloom, as Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed the deadly attack on Bardo museum in Tunisia, which left 17 tourists and two Tunisians dead.

In an audio message released by ISIS, tagged Knights of Islamic state, the sect praised the “heroics” of two attackers armed with machine guns and bombs.

“We tell the apostates who sit on the chest of Muslim Tunisia: Wait for the glad tidings of what will harm you, oh impure ones, for what you have seen today is the first drop of the rain,” the Islamic State audio said in Arabic, according to Reuters.

The terrorist group further referred to the attack as a “blessed invasion of one of the dens of the infidels and vice in Muslim Tunisia”.

The north African country, which got its independence from France on March 20, 1956, is celebrating a year short of diamond jubilee on Friday.

But the mood is far from celebratory, as officials say the military is on high alert to apprehend some other persons involved in Wednesday’s attack.

Tunisian authorities said they nine people were arrested, four directly linked to the attack and five with indirect ties.

“We arrested the father and the sister of the terrorist Hatem Al-Khashnawi in their home in Sbiba City,” Reuters quoted a security source as saying.

“After a meeting with the armed forces, the president has decided large cities will be secured by the army.”

Hatem al-Khashnawi and Yassin al-Abidi, two dead attackers praised by ISIS, have been confirmed as Tunisians, although no official confirmationsof their ties to ISIS have been made.

Habib Essid, Tunisia’s prime minister, said Abidi had been under surveillance but “not for anything very special”.

“We have identified them, it is indeed these two terrorists…their affiliation is not clear at the moment,” the premier told French RTL radio.

Like the case in Nigeria, a few Tunisians have been reported to have joined the Islamic state in building a caliphate.

The message in the country on Friday is “La Tunisie restera debout” (pictured), meaning “Tunisia would remain standing”.