সাম্প্রতিক হামলার পরে তিউনিসিয়া পর্যটন চ্যালেঞ্জ করেছে

Tunis Tunisia, already destabilized by a political crisis, suffered a blow to its vital tourism industry after a suicide bombing and another that was foiled in two coastal resort towns.

Only the suicide bomber was killed on Wednesday in an attack on a beachside hotel in Sousse, and the security forces thwarted another attempted suicide attack soon after in neighboring Monastir.

The interior ministry said its special forces arrested five Salafist “terrorists” directly linked to the first suicide bids in the North African country for more than a decade.

It said those behind the attacks belonged to Ansar Al Sharia, Tunisia’s main Salafist movement, which the authorities have designated a “terrorist organization” with ties to Al Qaeda.

The presidency insisted the attacks, which have yet to be claimed, would not “derail” the democratic transition.

In the first attack, the suicide bomber “blew himself up on a beach in Sousse” near the four-star Riadh Palms hotel, interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Laroui said. There were no other casualties.

The bomber tried to enter the hotel by a back door but was spotted by guards and chased away before blowing himself up on the nearby beach that was deserted, witnesses said.

A spontaneous protest broke out in the center of Sousse “to condemn terrorism,” they added.

Within half an hour, security forces foiled another suicide attack by an 18-year-old man on the tomb of former president Habib Bourguiba, in Monastir, 20km along the coast.

Residents said they saw the would-be attacker behaving suspiciously in a cemetery near the tomb and reported him. He was arrested by presidential security guards.

Private radio station Mosaique FM identified the suspect as Aymen Saadi Berchid and said four arrest warrants had previously been issued for him.

The attacks are likely to fuel fears for the stricken tourist sector, which has been largely untouched by the surge in jihadist violence since Ben Ali’s ouster and which generates vital revenues for the cash-strapped government.

Extra security was meanwhile deployed at hotels in Tunis amid fears of another attack.

One newspaper said the attacks meant “terrorism is now targeting tourism.”

“The target now is the beating heart of the Tunisian economy,” read the editorial in the Une le Temps daily.

Mohamed Ali Toumi, the head of a Tunisian travel agents’ federation, called for hoteliers to be “vigilant” as his organization offered support to any guests who might have suffered trauma.

“Thank God there were no casualties, but hotel guests need psychological support,” TAP news agency quoted him as saying.

The French embassy also urged “increased vigilance,” and advised its citizens to avoid meeting places.