Tunisians, tourists hold 'anti-terror' rallies in Djerba

DJERBA, Tunisia 

Tourists and Tunisians on Friday staged twin rallies in Midoun, a city located on the southeastern island of Djerba, to condemn Wednesday's deadly attack on a Tunis museum.

Two hundreds-strong rallies – one organized by civil society organizations and another by Tunisian citizens and tourists – converged on downtown Midoun, where they observed a moment of silence for the victims of Wednesday's attack.

"Terrorism has become the world's primary concern. Just as it happened in Tunisia, it can happen anywhere," Yannick Jean, a French tourist participating in the demonstration, told The Anadolu Agency.

"We will remain here in Djerba, in Tunisia; we will share our blood with Tunisians and won't leave it," Jean said.

Rally organizer Charafeddine Touriki, for his part, told AA that protesters' message to the world was that Tunisia was safe.

"The proof [of Tunisia's security] is that we're out today with our tourist guests to demonstrate and – through our unity – we will soon eliminate the scourge of terrorism," Touriki said.

Demonstrators waved signs and banners inscribed with slogans decrying terrorism and honored the nation's police and security forces to whom they distributed Tunisian flags, an AA correspondent reported.

On Wednesday, at least 23 people, including 20 foreign tourists, were killed when gunmen stormed Tunis' Bardo Museum.

Tourists from Italy, Japan, Poland and Spain were among those killed in the attack, which was claimed by a Daesh-affiliated group in an audio recording.

In 2002, at least 14 people, including seven foreign tourists, were killed in a suicide attack on a Jewish synagogue in western Tunisia.