Tunisia identifies slain museum gunmen, finds no known terrorism links

Tourists flee from Tunis&#039;s Bardo Museum — (Image credit: BBC/YouTube)

On Thursday, Tunisia released the names of the two gun killed after attacking the National Bardo Museum in Tunis on Wednesday, killing 17 foreign tourists and two locals. Neither of the men, identified as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui, has known ties to a terrorist group, Prime Minister Habib Essid told France's RTL radio, and while Laabidi was known to Tunisia's intelligence service, it was not for "anything special."

The two assailants were killed by security forces after they took hostages in the museum, and Tunisian authorities are searching for two or three others suspected of involvement in the attack. The murdered tourists were from Japan, Italy, Spain, Colombia, Poland, France, and Australia. At least 44 other people were wounded in the attack, many of them foreign tourists as well. You can watch the BBC's report on the attack for more details. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.