'Britons' Among Tourists Killed In Tunisia Attack

From Sky news

Nineteen people have been killed after militants attacked a museum in the Tunisia parliament building compound, the country's prime minister has said.

Unconfirmed reports on local media said those killed included nationals from Britain, but the Tunisian prime minister Habib Essid told national television the victims were Polish, Spanish, German, Italian and Tunisian.

Mohamed Ali Aroui, a spokesman for the interior ministry, originally said seven foreign tourists and one Tunisian were killed, and that other tourists were held hostage at the Bardo Museum.

That figure was later raised to 19 killed, with 17 tourists among the victims.

Security forces surrounded the museum, and two militants and one policeman were killed after they stormed the building.

The interior ministry said Tunisian troops freed all the hostages, but there were reports that security forces were hunting for as many as three gunmen believed to still be at large.

AFP news agency reported that at least two men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles were involved in the attack.

Mr Aroui said that around 100 tourists were inside the museum when the attack began.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls confirmed that hostages had been taken during the attack.

Speaking in Brussels, he said: "I condemn this terrorist attack in the strongest terms. There has been a hostage-taking, without doubt tourists have been affected, killed."

The museum is a leading tourist attraction in the country, and houses one of the world's largest Roman mosaic collections.

President Beji Caid Essebsi was due to make a public statement to the nation later on Wednesday.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

A spokesman from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are urgently looking in to the serious situation in Tunisia."

Tunisia has struggled with Islamist extremism, including militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, after its authoritarian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown in January 2011.

Dozens of police officers and military personnel have been killed or wounded in attacks blamed on Islamist militants.

Authorities have said as many as 3,000 Tunisians have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with jihadist groups, including IS.

The attack is the worst since an al Qaeda suicide bombing on a synagogue killed 21 people on the tourist island of Djerba in 2002.