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A wounded victim of the attack is evacuated by rescue workers outside the museum
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At least six others were wounded in
the attack. Tunisian authorities are now hunting several men believed to
have helped carry out the massacre
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Tunisian security forces patrol the perimeter of the museum as the hostages were held captive inside
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Anti-terrorist squad members surrounded the area with temporary barbed wire fencing
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Armed soldiers with their guns drawn take up positions behind a short wall during the standoff
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An armed police officer takes cover behind a squad vehicle during the tense standoff
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An armored police vehicle sits stationary prior to the raid as security forces' attempted to contain the militants
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Three officers discuss the best method in which to deal with the hostage situation, in which seven tourists were killed
It
is believed several hundred managed to flee the museum, while another
20 - 30 were taken captive before anti-terrorist security forces raided
the building.
Tunisian
Prime Minister Habib Essid said 21 people were killed: 17 tourists, two
gunmen, a Tunisian security officer and a Tunisian cleaning woman. He
said the dead tourists came from Italy, Poland, Germany and Spain.
It
is unclear who the attackers were, but a video posted online in
December attributed to Islamic State warned the jihadis would target the
country.
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Police swarmed on the area after eight people were shot dead, with fears two of those killed were Britons
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Tunisian authorities said their security forces engaged the terrorists inside the museum premises
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Three security officials stand guard outside the museum, which sits adjacent to the country's parliament
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A soldier takes cover behind a short stone wall outside the museum
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Security forces, armed with pistols and assault rifles take up positions against a wall
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Tunisia's parliament (pictured from the museum) was evacuated, with a number of prominent politicians rushed from the area
Some
of the Italians at the museum were believed to have been passengers
aboard the Costa Fascinosa, a cruise liner making a seven-day trip of
the western Mediterranean that had docked in Tunis.
Ship
owner Costa Crociere confirmed that some of its 3,161 passengers were
visiting the capital and that a Bardo tour was on the itinerary, but
said it could not confirm how many, if any, passengers were in the
museum at the time.
The
cruise ship recalled all the passengers to the ship and was in touch
with local authorities and the Italian foreign ministry.
Libya, which has devolved into chaos, is a source of major concern for Tunisia.
Also
a major worry is the Mount Chaambi area on the border with Algeria
where al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has reportedly been helping a
Tunisian group which has killed numerous soldiers.
Speaking
at the Louvre museum to call for international efforts to preserve the
heritage of Iraq and Syria against extremist destruction, French
president Francois Hollande said he had called the Tunisian president to
offer support and solidarity.
'Each time a terrorist crime is committed, we are all concerned,' said Mr Hollande.
French
prime minister Manuel Valls said today: 'We are condemning this
terrorist attack in the strongest terms. We are standing by the Tunisian
government. We are very alert about how the situation is evolving.'