7 soldiers killed in Tunisia barracks attack

The gunman was quickly shot dead but a security alert was still issued throughout the district.

Tunisian anti-terrorism brigade personnel enter a house to take position after a shooting at the Bouchoucha military base in Tunis on May 25. Reuters

TUNIS // A Tunisian soldier the authorities say had psychological problems seized a gun at a barracks on Monday and killed seven comrades before being shot dead himself.

The interior ministry said the rampage was not linked to “terrorism”, but a defence ministry spokesman did not rule this out before an investigation reports on the incident.

Defence ministry spokesman Belhassen Oueslati said the corporal, whose name was not given, “had family and psychological problems”.

Because of this, he had been “forbidden from carrying arms” and given “non-sensitive duties”.

“He attacked one man with a knife and took his gun before shooting at his comrades who were saluting the flag,” Mr Oueslati said.

The incident “caused the deaths of seven soldiers and also of the shooter. Ten soldiers were wounded, and one is in a serious condition,” he added.

Monday’s shooting was at the Bouchoucha barracks in Tunis, not far from parliament and the Bardo National Museum where extremist gunmen killed 21 foreign tourists and a policeman in March.

It triggered a security alert across the Bardo district

One heard two volleys of gunfire from inside the barracks at around 8:45am, before an ambulance emerged, its siren blaring.

The interior ministry’s elite Counterterrorism Brigade deployed in force across the area.

Police with sniffer dogs also checked parked vehicles for fear of car bombs in the district, which also houses two police barracks.

“The incident which took place at the Bouchoucha barracks is not connected with a terrorist operation,” interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said initially.

The defence ministry’s Mr Oueslati said the shooter had been killed.

“The armed forces took control of the situation after firing on the soldier,” Mr Oueslati said.

“Investigations will show whether this was a terrorist act or not,” Mr Oueslati told reporters.

Tunis has been on high alert ever since the March massacre at the National Bardo Museum, which dealt a heavy blow to the North African country’s tourism industry.

Tunisia has seen an upsurge in militancy since the Arab Spring revolt which toppled veteran strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

* Agence France-Presse