Britain tells tourists to leave Tunisia over terror risk

The British government on Thursday told all U.K. tourists to leave Tunisia because a terrorist attack is “highly likely” and the North African country’s government has not done enough to enhance security. The Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to Tunisia, a popular holiday destination for Britons. It said British tourists on package holidays should contact their travel agents, which will arrange flights to bring them home. Thirty-eight tourists, 30 of them British, were killed on June 26 when a gunman stormed the Tunisian beach resort of Sousse. In March, 22 people died in an attack at the National Bardo Museum outside Tunis.

While we do not have any information suggesting a specific or imminent threat, since the attack in Sousse the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond

On Saturday, more than a week after the Sousse attack, Tunisian authorities announced a state of emergency and enacted new security measures such as sending more than 1,300 security forces to patrol hotels, beaches and other tourist sites. Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of talks about Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna, said British authorities were in close contact with tour operators, who were arranging to get their customers home “as quickly as possible.”

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