Jihadists Kill 19, Wound More in Terrorist Attack on Tunisian Museum

When Muhammad established his headquarters in Medina, he began attacking the Meccan caravans. Why? Because the caravan trade was an essential source of revenue for the people of Mecca. By destabilizing the trade, Muhammad could destabilize the economy, and induce panic.

Today, jihadists in Tunisia attacked a museum popular among tourists. Why? Because tourism is an essential source of revenue for Tunisia. By destabilizing the industry, jihadists can destabilize the economy, and induce panic.

But none of this has anything to do with Islam, right?

CNN—Gunmen killed 17 tourists and two others — one of them a Tunisian security officer — on Wednesday at a museum in Tunisia’s capital in what the North African nation’s Prime Minister called a “cowardly” terrorist attack.

Tunisian security forces managed to kill two attackers and end a hostage siege at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, Prime Minister Habib Essid said.

But the bloodshed isn’t necessarily over, with Essid saying that authorities are looking for three other gunmen.

“It’s a cowardly attack mainly targeting the economy of Tunisia,” the Prime Minister said. “We should unite to defend our country.”

The scene played out in the heart of Tunisia’s capital, in a building linked to where the nation’s parliament meets and in an area frequented by tourists.

At least two cruise ships — the MSC Splendida and the Costa Fascinosa, which alone had more than 3,000 passengers — were docked in Tunis at the time, and both had passenger tours of the Bardo Museum organized for Wednesday morning, their parent companies said. The MSC Splendida’s expected Wednesday night departure from Tunisia could be delayed, while the Costa Fascinosa is set to head next to Spain and France before concluding its cruise Sunday in Italy.

It’s not known if any cruise ship passengers died Wednesday. Essid did say that Polish, Italian, German and Spanish tourists are among those killed, with another 20 tourists plus two Tunisians wounded in the attack. He suggested that the terrorists wanted to hurt Tunisia’s economy by going after tourists. (Continue Reading.)

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