“Officials called into question the claim of responsibility for the attack from al-Qaeda’s jihadist rival, the Islamic State group.” Much more is made of this “rivalry” than there actually is: the Islamic State and al-Qaeda share the same beliefs, motives and goals.
“Tunisia arrests 23 in ‘terrorist cell’ over museum attack,” AFP, March 26, 2015:
TUNIS, March 26, (AFP): Tunisia said Thursday that it had arrested 23 suspects in connection with last week’s jihadist massacre at the country’s national museum. “Twenty-three suspects including a woman have been arrested as part of a terrorist cell” involved in the attack, Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli told journalists, adding that “80 percent of this cell” had been broken up. All of those arrested were Tunisians, he said, adding that another Tunisian, two Moroccans and an Algerian suspected of being members of the cell were on the run. The Tunisian, Maher Ben Mouldi Kaidi, was previously identified as a suspect and is alleged to have provided the automatic weapons to the two gunmen who shot dead 21 people — including 20 foreign tourists — at the Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 18.
The head of the cell was among those arrested and was identified as Mohamed Emine Guebli. But the minister said the operation was organised by an Algerian jihadist named Lokmane Abou Sakhr, one of the leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade, the main Tunisian armed group active along the border with Algeria. Officials called into question the claim of responsibility for the attack from al-Qaeda’s jihadist rival, the Islamic State group. “Islamic State praised this attack for propaganda and publicity. But on the ground it was Okba Ibn Nafaa which belongs to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, that organised and committed this crime,” interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told AFP. AQIM has not responded since IS claimed responsibility for the attack, which would be its first in Tunisia….
kiljoy616 says
Sound so strange. So they did not know or arrested these people before but soon after the attack it was easy to figure out who was behind it. ROFL Oh and no one fought back they just seem to stand around with their finger in their nose.
Matthieu Baudin says
These millenarian Jihadis despise their own history as much as they hate foreign ‘unbelievers’. With their ‘year zero’ mentality it’s fitting that they mounted an attack at a museum. I recently visited a museum exhibit in Dar El Islam titled ‘Weapons of Mohammed’; I expect that particular display would get the green light anywhere. For those of you with praise for Mr Sisi, remember to include some gratitude for his leaderships protection of Egyptian antiquities.
Lia Wissing says
We do, and we also pray for him for a long & blessed life &that his own people will listen to & learn from him.
Charli Main says
Islam is a malignant cancer that has been somewhat dormant for a while. This vile corruption has started to metastasize and spread through the body of sane human society. Every Muslim, practicing and believing in the tenets of Islam, is a cell in this cancerous tumour. Some cells are active, others dormant but they all remain cancer cells in the tumour of Islam.
abracciosr says
Absolutely true. How could anyone who can see feel touch read and reason rationally not be up in arms and voting for safeguards and checks and balances throughout civil society.
ATO1965 says
I’m fully awake and education all my friends and family.
Mirren10 says
I showed this article to a former friend of mine, who had said he was taking his family on holiday to Tunisia.
His response was, things like this happened all over the world. Yes, I said, and who commits these atrocities ? muslims, in the name of their religion. **He** said I was ”becoming fanatical” on the question of islam and muslims.
*And* he still intends to take his wife and family there. I wouldn’t mind if it was just him and his dozy wife, but one of his children is my **godchild**. (Before I became agnostic). Damn all these fools, who, not content with signing their own death warrants, insist on taking innocents down with them.