Tunis, July 4 (IANS) Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi announced a state of emergency on Saturday, following last month’s attack on a hotel in the North African country’s Sousse city that left 38 foreign tourists dead, media reported.
Essebsi will address the nation later in the evening to explain the decision and the reasons behind it, Xinhua quoted the state-run Tunisian News Agency as saying.
Tunisia has been dealing with the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack against a hotel in Sousse, which left 38 foreign tourists, mainly British nationals, dead and 39 others injured.
On June 26, Seifeddine Rezgui, a 23-year-old student, attacked the Marhaba hotel in Sousse firing from a Kalashnikov rifle before being shot dead by security agents a few kms away from the crime scene.
The Islamic State section of Libya has claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened more attacks in future.
Security has been tightened in the country, especially on Saturday the 18th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as two terrorist attacks against soldiers and national guard agents took place on the same day of Ramadan in the past two years.