Tunisia terror attack: Government admits security failures at museum

The Tunisian government today admitted that massive security failures contributed to the Bardo museum terrorist attack which left 23 dead including a British tourist.

As the victim toll increased overnight, Prime Minister Habib Essid said: “There were failures in the entire security system, at every stage, that’s to say in the protection of parliament and the museum, and the protection of tourists.”

Shropshire solicitor Sally Jane Adey, 57, was among those gunned down by Islamic State-linked terrorists in Tunis on Wednesday, along with five Japanese, four Italians, two Colombians, two Spaniards and citizens from Australia, France and Poland.

Three Tunisians were also killed. The two gunmen were shot dead by security forces.

Following an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers, Mr Essid said there were “gaps and flaws”.

“How could two men armed with Kalashnikovs get into the Tunisian Louvre without hindrance?” he asked.

The terrorists attacked the Bardo because security at the Parliament next door was so strong.

Mr Essid continued: “Why was the National Assembly secure, while the museum did not even have a metal detector at the entrance?”

Yassine Abidi, one of the terrorists, was meant to be under surveillance, while Mr Essid also pinpointed a lack of co-ordination between security agencies.

Facing the prospect of a collapse in tourism, President Beji Caid Essebsi has ordered troops onto the streets for the first time since the 2011 Arab Spring revolution.