Social Media Images of Antiterrorism Rally in Tunis
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Version 0 of 1. Tunisians rallied against terrorism Wednesday night, hours after an assault by militants on a museum in the center of the capital, Tunis, left at least 19 people dead, mainly foreign tourists. Two gunmen were reportedly also killed as the security forces retook control of the Bardo Museum, near Parliament, which might have been the intended target. The authorities said that dozens more were wounded in the attack. During a lockdown as the security forces responded to the attack, some members of Parliament posted updates on Twitter, including Saida Ounissi of the main Islamist party, Ennahda. Ms. Ounissi, whose party quickly condemned the attack, described panic as shots were fired at the museum before the lawmakers were eventually evacuated. Some of them sang a defiant version of the national anthem, which was captured on video by Maria Glenna, a visiting graduate student from American University’s School of International Service in Washington. As evening fell, outraged residents of the capital gathered on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, where protesters rallied in 2011 against the autocratic rule of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, toppling him and setting off the Arab Spring uprisings across the region. The demonstration was partly organized and extensively documented on social networks by citizens who used hashtags in Arabic, English and French. Among the slogans was #JeSuisTunisien, echoing the phrase of solidarity used in France after attacks by Islamist militants in January on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher market in Paris. Late Wednesday, members of Tunisia’s Parliament returned to their chamber for an extraordinary session to show, Ms. Ounissi said, that they remain united in support of freedom and democracy. |