Tunisian ministries of interior, defense and tourism have announced a security plan to give a boost to tourism in the country, which is expected to witness a record number of around 9 million visitors.
The plan is being implemented amid fears of attacks similar to 2015 when terrorists hit the Bardo National Museum, west of Tunis, and a hotel in the coastal city of Sousse, leaving dozens of foreigners dead and injured.
Over 30,000 security officers have been recruited to secure beaches and control access to major cities, according to Tunisian security sources. They will also be required to guard hotels’ vicinity and facilitate movement of tourist buses.
Army units will also be in charge of securing some parts of the southern desert on the Libyan-Tunisian border as well as the desert on the border with Algeria.
In the same context, the Ministry of Tourism has recently developed a plan to support all hotels, resorts, amusement parks and restaurants, as well as equipping them with surveillance cameras along a program for the formation of security guards in coordination with specialized units of the Ministry of Interior.
On June 26, 2015, Tunisian terrorist Saifuddin Rizki opened fire on a group of foreign tourists in a hotel in Sousse killing 39 of them, most of whom were British nationals, in what became one of the country’s deadliest terrorist attacks.
Tunisian security agents accused personnel responsible for securing Sousse of not providing assistance to victims in a serious condition.
The case is still under investigation, similar to the March 18 terrorist attack on the Bardo National Museum, which left 23 people, including 22 foreigners, dead.
