TOURISTS SLAUGHTERED ON THE BEACH/SUNBEDS:
Kalashnikov Raised, Tunisian Terrorist's Last Moments Revealed as He Roams the Streets Looking for More Victims After Slaughtering 37 Tourists in Hotel Massacre Before Police Shoot Him Dead
- Gunmen have carried out a terrorist attack at holiday destination of Sousse
- Militants, thought to be from ISIS, exchanged gunfire with security services
- English boy, 16, survived after seeing his parents and grandmother killed
- Another Brit left fighting for his life after being shot four times in stomach
Daily Mail UK, 26 June 2015
The final moments of a machine gun-wielding terrorist who caused havoc on a beach in Tunisia today have been captured on camera.
AK47 in hand, the man prowls the streets of Sousse, the popular resort town where he killed at least 37 and injured another 36 having opened fire on a beach packed with holiday makers.
It has emerged that a heroic British man, who was shot three times on the beach during the onslaught, bravely used his body as a human shield to protect his fiancee from being killed by the maniac gunman.
The massacre took place at about the same time as the bombing of a Shi'ite mosque in Kuwait, where 25 worshippers were killed, and another attack on a United States-owned factory in France in which a man was beheaded.
The violence comes just days after ISIS urged its fanatic followers to 'make Ramadan a month of calamities' and rise up against the 'non-believers'.
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Terrorist: New images show the final moments of a gunman (pictured) who caused havoc by opening fire on a beach packed with holidaymakers in Tunisia today, before police shot him dead
Predator: Assault rifle in hand, he roams the streets of the popular holiday resort town Sousse where he and possible accomplices killed at least 37 people today
Killer: Witnesses in Sousse said the terrorists used a jet ski and a boat to access the beach and hid their machine guns in parasols before indiscriminately opening fire on civilians
An officer speaks on his phone as he walks past the dead body of one of the gunmen on the ground
Bodies lie on a beach in Sousse after gunmen opened fire on tourists at two hotels, killing at least 37
Massacre: At least 37 people were killed on the beach when gunmen opened fire on innocent sunbathers
Killed: A 16-year-old British boy saw his grandmother and parents gunned down by the men who killed 37 (one pictured)
Deceased: Tunisian lifeguards stand next to a covered body in the resort town of Sousse, which has been brought to its knees following a merciless terrorist attack
Armed police stand over the body of a victim shot dead on the beach by Islamist gunmen in Tunisia
Hero: British man Matthew James (right), who was shot three times on the beach during the onslaught, used his body as a human shield to protect his fiancee Sarah Wilson (left) from being killed by the maniac gunman
Onslaught: One of the survivors of the massacre on a beach in Tunisia sits inside the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, where a window was smashed by gunfire
Attack: A broken glass window of the Imperiale Marhaba hotel is seen after a gunman opened fire at the beachside hotel in Sousse
Medics help an injured man in Sousse after gunmen stormed beaches of two hotels in the town of Sousse
Matthew James, 30, from Cardiff, is fighting for his life after being shot four times in the stomach, his father-in law William Wilson told MailOnline.
The gas engineer was hit in the shoulder, chest and hip as the gunman opened fire on the sunbeds as he lay next to fiancee Sarah Wilson.
Speaking from the hospital in Tunisia, Sarah, 26, said: 'He took a bullet for me. I owe him my life because he threw himself in front of me when the shooting started. He was covered in blood from the shots but he just told me to run away.
'He told me: "I love you babe. But just go - tell our children that their daddy loves them".
'It was the bravest thing I've ever known. But I just had to leave him under the sunbed because the shooting just kept on coming.
'I ran back, past bodies on the beach to reach our hotel. It was chaos - there was a body in the hotel pool and it was just full of blood.
'You just can't explain how terrible it was. It was chaos with screaming and gunshots. I'm just so glad Matthew is alive because so many other people are dead.'
Engaged couple Sarah and Matthew, from Pontypridd, South Wales, left their two children Tegan, six, and Kaden, 14 months at home with their family when they jetted out to Sousse on June 21 for a two week break.
Emotions running high: A man launches a furious attack on a man apparently arrested over the shootings
The suspect gunman was attacked after reportedly being captured by the entrance to the Sousse motorway
Safety: Terrified tourists are holed up inside the Imperial hotel in the resort town of Sousse, a popular tourist destination 90 miles south of the Tunisian capital
Ellie Makin, from Ripon, who was on holiday with her friend Debbie Horsfall from Huddersfield, said she saw a gunman pull a weapon from an umbrella right next to them on the beach while they were sunbathing.
She told ITV News: 'He was to the right of me because we were on the last sun bed on the beach. All of a sudden I got up anyway and just happened to look right and all I saw was a gun and an umbrella being dropped.
'Then he started firing to the right hand side of us. If he had fired to the left I don't know what would have happened, but we were very lucky.'
A 16-year-old British boy reportedly saw his parents and grandmother slaughtered by the gunman and possible accomplices. The boy is being treated for his injuries in hospital, according to a report by a Tunisian radio station.
Staff at the Clinic Les Oliviers in Sousse where many of the injured have been taken said they were treating 13 British nationals.
Other victims who died included an Irish woman, Tunisians, Germans and Belgians.
Witnesses in Sousse said the terrorists used a jet ski and a boat to access the beach and hid their machine guns in parasols while dressed in Western clothing.
The body of one gunman lay at the scene with a Kalashnikov after he was shot in an exchange of gunfire with police.
A second suspect was later arrested near a motorway. Pictures showed him being punched in the face by a furious woman as he was marched through the town by armed police.
Bodies of victims are covered up on the beach in Sousse;
This picture shows the body of a western holidaymaker lying dead on the beach in Sousse - empty sun loungers can be seen behind him after people fled the area
This picture shows dead bodies on the beach following the attack on the beach today
A Tunisian student, previously unknown to the security services, is the prime suspect in the massacre, Tunisia's Secretary of State for Security, Rafik Chelly revealed.
Mr Chelly told Tunisia's Mosaique FM radio station:
'He is Tunisian, from the Kairouan region [in the centre of Tunisia]. He is a student. He was not known [to the security services].
'He went to the beach, dressed like someone who is going for a swim and he had a parasol [sun umbrella] inside which he had his weapon. After he arrived at the beach, he used his weapon.'
The attack took place at the Al-Qantawi resort in the city of Sousse, around 140 kilometres south of the capital Tunis on the Mediterranean coast.
The hotels attacked are understood to be the Imperial Marhaba and the Soviva.
Ridha Jegham, director general of the Royal Kenz Hotel opposite the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, told a local radio station that the terrorists used a jet ski and boat to access the beach.
He said he had passed the information to the country's Interior Minister.
British tourist Gary Pine told Sky News said: 'We thought fire crackers were going off but you could see quite quickly what was going on.
'There was a mass exodus off the beach. My son was in the sea at the time and myself and my wife were shouting at him to get out and as he ran up he said I've just saw someone get shot.
'One attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov on tourists and Tunisians on the beach of the hotel', said a hotel worker at the site.
'It was just one attacker. He was a young guy dressed in shorts like he was a tourist himself.'
Police stand over one of the gunmen after the attack in the popular tourist destination today
Elizabeth O'Brien, an Irish woman on holiday with her two sons in the resort, described how she grabbed her children and ran for their lives when they heard gunfire erupting from one of the hotels.
She said: 'We were on the beach. My sons were in the sea and I just got out of the sea.
'It was about 12 o'clock and I just looked up about 500 metres from me and I saw a (hot air) balloon collapse down, then rapid firing, then I saw two of the people who were going to go up in the balloon start to run towards me - because I thought it was fireworks.
'So, I thought 'oh my God, it sounds like gunfire', so I just ran to the sea to my children and grabbed our things and as I was running towards the hotel.
'The waiters and the security on the beach started saying 'run, run run!' and we just ran to our room, which is like a little bungalow. So we are actually trapped in our room.'
The British Government's emergency
Cobra committee will meet this afternoon following the attack in Tunisia and another one in France where a man was decapitated at a gas factory by terrorists carrying Islamist banners.
Prime Minister David offered 'our solidarity in fighting this evil of terrorism'.
He added: 'Our hearts go out to the victims of appalling terrorist acts in France and Tunisia.'
Tunisian troops stand guard outside the hotel in an armoured car after the terror attack
Susan Rickett, who was staying at the Palm Marina Hotel near Sousse, said: 'My sister was talking to someone who had seen some people shooting and had shot someone on a sun bed but we don't know if that's true.
'It sounded like a machine gun going off... and there was a kind of explosion a little bit later.
'They're saying its going on in the hotel next to us. Police were chasing some men, that's all I know.'
Rebecca Miles, a British tourist who was staying at the Royal Kenz hotel with her boyfriend Dean Anderson, 24, told MailOnline: 'We were told to go back to our rooms because there were reports of a bomb.
'It happened about half an hour ago – I heard a bang and I thought it was thunder but it was a clear sky so it obviously wasn't.
'I heard sirens going off about 20 minutes ago and everyone came running back from the private hotel beach which is about 400 metres from the hotel. Everyone is a bit clueless about what is happening.
'People are anxious because they don't really know what is happening and we are now stuck in our rooms. There have been deaths apparently.'
A holidaymaker John Yeoman has barricaded himself inside his hotel room in Sousse (pictured)
David Schofield said: 'We heard quite a large explosion...People are running around the hotel. No-one has really been told what to do.'
The Foreign Office said it is aware of the reports and is looking into them.
In a statement, Thomas Cook said:
'Thomas Cook has been advised of an incident that occurred earlier today in Sousse, Tunisia.
'At this time, details are not clear as to which properties have been affected, with conflicting news reports.
'We are currently gathering information and will provide an update as soon as possible.
'Our teams on the ground are offering every support to our customers and their families in the area.
'We will continue to monitor the situation, working closely with the FCO and local authorities.'
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SOUSSE: POPULAR HOLIDAY AREA
Sousse is a city on the east coast of Tunisia, about 87 miles (140km) south of the capital, Tunis.
Around 1.2 million tourists visit Sousse every year, drawn by the hotels, sandy beaches and culture.
Hotel complexes with 40,000 beds span from the old city to the Port El Kantaoui and the city is home to a Unesco-protected mosque, as well as a historic medina.
Boujaafar Beach stretches from the Gulf of Hammamet several miles north to Port El Kantaoui - a purpose-built resort with dozens of hotels including the El Mouradi Palm Marina, El Mouradi Palace and Riu Imperial Marhaba.
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Mohamed Ali Aroui, spokesman for Tunisia's Interior Minister, said: 'The perpetrator of the massacre has been killed but there could be more.
'That that are others with him is something we cannot confirm or deny.'
While the country's president Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi said: 'We have seen today that Tunisia is facing an international movement.
'It cannot respond alone. The proof is that at the same time and on the same day, France has been the target of an similar operation as well as Kuwait.
'This is the proof that a global strategy is needed and that every democratic country should unite its forces... I hope this time is the last time.'
Holiday brands Thomson and First Choice said they were 'aware of a suspected terrorist incident in Tunisia'.
They added: 'We are working closely with our teams in Tunisia and the relevant authorities to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected.
'More information will be released as it becomes available.'
This morning's news follows a similar attack in March, when three terrorists attacked the Bardo National Museum in the Tunisian capital city of Tunis, and took hostages.
Twenty-one people, mostly European tourists, were killed at the scene, while an additional victim died ten days later.
It has been reported that the attack happened on the private beach of the Royal Kenz Hotel, which is situated 400 metres away
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest involving foreigners in Tunisia since a 2002 suicide bombing on the island of Djerba.
The attack comes just hours after a man was decapitated and dozens more injured at a gas product factory in France by terrorists carrying Islamist banners.
The attack took place at the headquarters of the American owned Air Products, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near the city of Lyon, in the south east of the country.
The murder is believed to have been accompanied by several explosions on the site cause by a terrorist igniting small 'gas bombs' that injured dozens of factory workers.
It is believed the explosions may have intended to blow up the entire factory site but failed.
The murdered man's head is understood to have been found 30 feet away from his body, hanging on the factory's fence.
The dead man's head was covered in Arabic 'inscriptions' before being placed on the fence, according to local journalists at the scene.
A 30-year-old man - named by French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve as Yacine Sali who is understood to have been known to security services since at least 2006 - has already been arrested at the scene, telling police officers that he is a member of the Islamic State terror group.
The man is believed not to have a criminal record but was considered to have 'possibly been radicalised'.
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TERROR IN TUNISIA: SOUSSE MASSACRE COMES JUST THREE MONTHS AFTER 22 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN BARDO MUSEUM ATTACK
This morning's savage attack on a beach near two tourist hotels on the Mediterranean comes as Tunisia was just beginning to recover from the massacre of 22 people in March.
In that attack gunmen stormed the Bardo National Museum in the capital Tunis, firing indiscriminately in a brazen daylight raid.
Three jihadis opened fire on a bus load of tourists arriving at the museum before chasing them into the building and killing more, Prime Minister Habib Essid said at the time.
21 people were killed at the scene - including one Briton - while another person died 10 days later in hospital.
A further 50 people were injured in what is believed to be the worst terror attack in modern Tunisian history.
Two of the perpetrators, Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, were killed at the scene of the attack, while the third identity is not yet clear.
Dozens of men have so far been arrested in connection with the attack, although many of them were detained on suspicion of helping to plan the massacre, rather than taking part.
Tunisian officials blamed the Bardo museum attack on a local terror group called the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade - an Al Qaeda offshoot that declared allegiance to ISIS last September.
The British victim of the Bardo museum attack was mother-of-two Sally Adey, of Caynstall, near Shifnal, Shropshire.
The retired British solicitor died from wounds to her stomach and pelvis while on a stop off on a Mediterranean cruise with her 52-year-old husband Robert, who survived the attack and had to identify his wife's body.
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Sousse Terror Attack: Wounded Arrive at Private Clinic
Tourist Describes Hearing Gunman Fire Shots Below Them
Wounded are Taken into Hotel for Treatment in Sousse
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