A Tunisian gunman who killed 39 people at a resort hotel, mostly British holiday-makers, probably spent time in a training camp in Libya and had been in contact with militants over the border, a security source said on Tuesday.
The attack on the Imperial Marhaba beach hotel in the popular resort town of Sousse came just months after militants attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing 21 people and delivering a blow to the vital tourism industry.
Investigators were verifying whether the gunman, student Saif Rezgui, had received militant training in a jihadist camp across in Libya. Authorities have also arrested three others for helping to plan the attack, a security source said.
“Investigations show Saif Rezgui was in contact with terrorists in Libya and he likely trained in a Libyan camp,” an official source told Reuters.
Libya, caught in a multi-sided battle between two rival governments and their armed factions, has become a target for ISIS supporters and other jihadist groups who have taken advantage of the security chaos.
The two gunmen who carried out the March attack on the Bardo had also clandestinely crossed into Libya for training late last year, investigators said. Rezgui had taken out his passport last year, but there were no exit stamps in it, officials said.
Check Also
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 19, 2024
Ukrainian forces have defended against Russia’s full-scale invasion for 1,000 days and continue to demonstrate …