The bodies of two missing Italian
tourists from Wednesday's Tunis terror attack were found in a
local morgue Thursday, bringing the Italian toll to four.
As Italy vowed bigger operations in the Mediterranean, the
Tunisian government declared war on terrorism after an attack on
the Bardo museum in which 21 tourists were killed along with the
two Tunisian Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
The ship was carrying Britons, French, Germans, Russians
and Poles as well as Italians.
One of the Italian victims was named as Orazio Conte, who
took the cruise aboard the Costa Fascinosa because "he never
wanted to leave his wife," according to his son.
Another, Francesco Caldara, was on his first cruise and was
there to accompany his girlfriend on a birthday trip, his
companion Sonia, who was wounded in the arm, told reporters
after her ordeal.
The two missing tourists whose bodies were found were named
as Antonella Sesina, whose husband Lorenzo Barbera told
reporters, "she wasn't even supposed to go to Tunis", and
Giuseppina Biella, who was there with her husband who escaped
harm.
At least two of the victims were employees of the Turin
town council, which declared two days of mourning with flags at
half mast.
The head of a naval academy in Genoa, Angela Pastorino,
revealed that she had barred her 40 or so charges from getting
off the ship because of disciplinary problems.
"Sometimes decisions taken on the spur of the moment turn
out to be truly providential," she said on her Facebook page,
posting a picture of the trip.
Nine of the ISIS militants who carried out the attack were
arrested and Tunisian authorities revealed that some of the
assailants had been wearing explosive vests.
"The massacre could have been much worse," the authorities
said.
The Bardo's famed Roman mosaics were still covered with
blood Thursday but officials said it would reopen Tuesday.
The Internet meanwhile was full of messages of solidarity
and support, under the hashtag, #Je Suis Bardo.
ISIS on Thursday claimed responsibility for the attack,
intelligence expert Rita Katz said on the website of her
organisation SITE.
Katz stressed it was not yet possible to verify the claim.
ISIS named two of its militants who allegedly took part in
the attack, Abu Zakarya al-Tunisi and Abu Anas al-Tunisi.
The death toll is made up of 18 foreign tourists and five
Tunisian nationals, including two terrorists.
Around 50 people were seriously injured, most tourists
visiting for the day.
"Today all the levels of mobilization alert for the
security forces are at the maximum and concentrated on the
terrorism threat," Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the
State broadcaster RAI.
The minister added that "technically we are in a phase of
pre-maximum alert" because the intelligence services had not
detected "specific threats".
Italian President Sergio Mattarella told American network
CNN in an interview Thursday that "We have not much time" to
counter the threat of terrorism.
The comment, from an interview with journalist Christiane
Amanpour, was posted on the network's Twitter feed.
Mattarella said the "attack (was) on democracy
and culture," adding it was "painful" and "alarming".
The president added that it was essential to back UN
efforts to reconcile Libyan forces for the anti-ISIS fight,
saying the country could become a base for anti-EU attacks.
ISIS, he said, was "the new enemy of civilisation".
Costa Cruises said it has stopped all visits by its liners
to Tunisia.
"The safety of guests and crew is Costa Cruises's priority
and a necessary condition for be able to offer pleasant, serene
holidays," a company statement read.
"After what happened in Tunis, we have decided to cancel
all the upcoming stops of our ships in Tunisia. They will be
replaced by alternative stops that we are preparing".
Another Italian cruise company, MSC, said that nine guests
from its Splendida liner were among the people killed.
It added that 12 of its passengers were injured and six
others (two Spanish nationals, one Belgian, one British, one
French and one Japanese) are still unaccounted for.
The target of Wednesday's terrorist attack in Tunis was
only the national museum, and not the nearby parliament,
according to a message claimed to be from ISIS, according to TV
France 24.
There had been speculation that parliament was also a
target.
Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said the
heightened terrorist threat demonstrated by Wednesday's attack
is driving an increase in the Italian military presence in the
Mediterranean.
She told the foreign and defence committees of the House
and Senate that means more ships and aircraft on patrol.
"The armed forces are operating with a high intensity...to
protect multiple national interests," said Pinotti.
Monitoring developments in North Africa "must be the first
of our concerns".
An operation dubbed "Safe Seas" includes employment of more
patrol ships, with maritime security teams, fixed and rotary
wing aircraft will be used as well as unmanned reconnaissance
and electronic aerial devices designed to help to protect
military and commercial vessels and communications lines, she
said.
Night-vision equipment will be increased to help military
with its patrols, the minister added.
Pinotti said that "even closer collaboration" is planned
with Tunisia.
She praised Tunis as "a friendly country severely
threatened by instability and the presence of radical forces,
but which still manages to maintain balance and constitutes an
important partner for us and for stability in the region".
"We are at war", Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said
during a meeting with the Higher Council of the Armed Forces.
The army and police have been mobilized to "root out
terrorism," Essebsi said.
Sicilian fishermen involved in a cooperation project in
Tunisia said "dialogue through work" was the most effective
response to extremism.
"We believe strongly in this cooperation project in close
contact with our brothers from Tunisia, a country to which Italy
and Sicily are tied by profound and common cultural and
historical roots," Giovanni Tumbiolo, president of the Mazara
del Vallo fishing district, said.
"We are convinced that dialogue through work is the most
effective response to every form of extremism," he continued.
The fishing district is working in Tunisia together with
the Trapani chamber of commerce on a European cross-border
cooperation project aiming to promote the quality and
traceability of catches and valorise Italian-Tunisian
gastronomic traditions.
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