As it happened: Tunisia attack

1. At least 19 people including 17 tourists are killed after gunmen target the Bardo museum in central Tunis
2. Polish, Italian, Spanish, German and Tunisian citizens are among those killed
3. Prime Minister Habib Essid says there were up to five attackers and that 22 tourists and two Tunisians were injured
4. Parliament has now been evacuated and the bulk of the operation is now reported to be over
5. However the security forces are continuing to combing Tunis for more attackers, Mr Essid says

This is all from BBC News' live page on the events in Tunis. Before we go, let us remind you of the main facts:

• At least 19 people, including 17 tourists, have been killed in an attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis.
• A number of people were trapped inside the museum while the attacks went on, and were freed after two hours.
• Tourists from Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain were killed, as well as two Tunisians.
• Two gunmen were killed. Up to three associates may be on the run.
• No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
• Tunisia's President calls the attack "a horrible crime".
• Demonstrators are gathering in central Tunis for an anti-terror protest.

There will be plenty more on events in Tunis elsewhere on the BBC website over the coming hours.

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Seif Eddine Trabelsi, Reporter

tweets: Demonstration in front of the municipal theatre against terrorism is now # Tunisia

Here's another image of the anti-terror demonstration in central Tunis. The crowds are reportedly chanting: "Tunisia is free, terrorism out."

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Tunisian radio station Mosaique FM quotes President Beji Caid Essebsi as saying the attack on the Bardo Museum was a "huge disaster" and that the country must "enter a mobilisation phase" to counter future terror threats.

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Groups of young people have started arriving outside a theatre on Avenue Bourguiba, in the centre of Tunis, in a show of strength after the attack. Many are waving flags and carrying placards.

Twitter

Twitter

Mr Kerry goes on to say: "We commend Tunisian authorities' rapid response to today's wanton violence and their efforts to resolve the hostage situation and restore calm. The United States stands with the Tunisian people at this difficult time and continues to support the Tunisian government's efforts to advance a secure, prosperous, and democratic Tunisia."

US Secretary of State John Kerry says: "The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms today's deadly terrorist attack at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis, where gunmen killed 19 people and wounded more than 20 others. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the victims' families and loved ones."

EPA

A statement has been put out on behalf of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: "The secretary-general condemns in the strongest terms today's attack against the Bardo Museum in central Tunis and deplores the loss of life. He conveys his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this deplorable act."

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Youssef Cherif, a Tunisian blogger, writes:

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Francois Hollande, French president

Tweets: I express the solidarity of France to Tunisia. Every time a terrorist crime is committed, anywhere , we are all concerned

A Tunisian member of parliament, Sayida Ounissi, tweets that an extraordinary session of parliament will be held inside the Bardo Museum at 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT).

In that interview, Tunisia's tourism minister also said that the country's tourism industry wanted to focus more on "cultural tourism, valorising our archaeological sites like Carthage...and the Bardo Museum".

Tunisia's Tourism Minister Selma Elluni Rekik told Italian news agency Ansa on Tuesday that the country was completely safe for tourists. She said there was "no security problem in Tunisia".

Ennahdha Party

tweets: #Ennahdha stresses that this crime will not break our people's will and will not undermine our revolution and our democracy.

The Bardo Museum, a former palace, is home to an exceptional collection of Roman mosaics. It is a major draw for Tunisia's tourists, who numbered 6.1 million last year.

The French President, Francois Hollande, has spoken to his Tunisian counterpart. Mr Hollande made reference to the terror attacks in Paris in January, which killed 17 people. He said: "When it comes to human life we are incredibly crushed by the terrorist machine. We had these painful events in France in January and it's true today in Tunis as it was in Copenhagen, we are all affected."

Here's another reminder of where exactly the attack took place. The Bardo Museum is very close to the Parliament building, where some reports in Tunisia say a new anti-terror law was being discussed.

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The French newspaper Le Monde has spoken to a journalist who was outside the Bardo Museum when the attack was taking place. She spoke of an "incredibly tense" atmosphere which was relieved when, she says, around 100 people were freed.

Nicolas Sarkozy, former French President

tweets: More than ever, France and its allies must fight without weakness terrorist barbarism wherever it is.

BBC Arab Affairs editor Sebastian Usher says that while the identity of the gunmen has not yet been established, they are likely to be Islamic militants who are trying tried to derail Tunisia's democratic transition.

In a tweet, Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi says he has received a call from his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, expressing his solidarity with Tunisia's people.

The National Bardo Museum - evacuated after the shooting - is a leading tourist attraction that chronicles Tunisia's history and houses one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics, PA reports.

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council

tweets: My deepest sympathies to families of victims of Bardo museum attacks. EU stands united w #Tunisia against extremism.

In a statement, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, says: "With the attack that has struck Tunis today, the [Islamic State] terrorist organisation is once again targeting the countries and peoples of the Mediterranean region."

An ambulance leaves the Bardo museum.

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JM Berger, the author of ISIS: The State of Terror, posted this tweet:

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Italy's foreign ministry says that two Italians have been injured in the museum attack and 100 Italians inside the museum have been taken to a secure location.

There's plenty of reaction to the events coming in on social media. Here's the take of Daveed Garstenstein-Ross of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

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Two or three gunmen involved in the attack on the museum may still be at large, Prime Minister Habib Essid says.

A disproportionately large number of Tunisians - about 3,000, according to government estimates - have joined Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq, AP reports.

Violence in Tunisia in recent years has been largely focused on the security forces, not foreigners or tourist sites, AP reports, although four attackers were killed in an attack on the US embassy in Tunis in September 2012.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini blames Islamic State militants for the attack on tourists in Tunis.

A victim being evacuated by rescue workers outside the Bardo musum in Tunis

AP

AFP quotes Tunisia's health minister Said Aidi as saying some of the injured came from France, South Africa, Poland, Italy and Japan.

Sayida Ounissi, an MP with the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, says that it is the first time tourists have been targeted by extremists since the uprising in 2010. "Although the security forces said they were actually targeting the parliament, they got stopped before reaching the parliament so they actually went back to the museum and killed the people there."

Tunisia's President, Beji Caid Essebsi, has gone to meet survivors of the attack and has just tweeted this photo.

Twitter

The first images are coming in of people fleeing the Bardo Museum as the hostage crisis there came to an end. These are all still images taken from Tunisian television.

AFP/Tunisian 1

AFP/Tunisian 1

Imen Ben Mohamed, Deputy of the #ARP - Ennahdha Party - Deputy of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly

tweets: In response to the attack on the deputies gathered in parliament. We send a message of unity and courage against these terrorists in #Tunisia

British freelance journalist Simon Cordall, who is outside the museum

tweets: "Huge cheers from the crowd as the Swat team leave. Hostages being taken away by ambulance. A police officer told me they're fine."

The security forces are continuing their operation, Mr Essid says, and were combing Tunis for more attackers.

Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid says there were up to five attackers. "Two were engaged in the operation and were killed. As I speak, our reports are not final. These two could have been assisted by two or three other operatives."

Romain Nadal, Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development

tweets: Attack in #terroriste #Tunisia : the crisis centre of the Quai d'Orsay has set up an emergency number 0143175646

At a press conference, Mr Essid says 22 tourists, and two Tunisians, were injured in the attacks.

Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid says: "It is a critical moment in our history, and a defining moment for our future."

Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid says the gunmen were wearing military fatigues.

The victims were Polish, Spanish, German, Italian and Tunisian, the Prime Minister says.

BreakingBreaking News

Tunisia's Prime Minister says at a press conference that 19 people were killed in the attacks, including 17 tourists.

Poland's Foreign Ministry said that three Poles were among the wounded, while the Italian Foreign Ministry said at least two Italians were hurt and 100 other Italians had been taken to a secure location.

Nessma TV, a Tunisian privately-owned channel, reports."The death toll in the terrorist attack (on the Tunisian parliament and Bardo Museum) rises after a member of the counter-terrorism team dies."

Let's just remind you of what we know so far. Gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in the centre of the Tunisian capital Tunis, killing at least eight people. Many more were taken hostage.

It was the first attack on a tourist site in years in Tunisia, a "shaky young democracy that has struggled to keep Islamic extremist violence at bay", AP reports.

Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi tweets that he has just finished a crisis meeting held in his palace. He is expected to address the nation later.

We are getting a sense of the scale of the operation before it ended - we will keep on posting images as we get them.

Reuters

Reuters

Reuters

Images are starting to emerge on social media from inside the museum. Many appear to show a group of dozens of people sitting on the marble floor of a gallery. All the people inside the museum are now understood to have been freed.

The siege ended some two hours after the gunmen began their attack on the Bardo Museum, a major tourist attraction adjoining the parliament building.

Both the AFP and Associated Press news agencies say two gunmen and one security officer are among the dead.

France's President Francois Hollande has called his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi to express solidarity with the Tunisian nation "in this very grave moment," a source close to Mr Hollande's office is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

The Reuters news agency, quoting an unnamed security official, says all hostages in the Bardo Museum have now been freed.

EPA

It does now appear, according to reports on Tunisian media, that the attacks in the capital Tunis are over. At least eight people have been killed, though some reports say up to nine people may have died. Tunis-based radio station Shems FM reports that one of the dead was a security guard.

BBC Arab Affairs editor Sebastian Usher says the attack is a huge blow to Tunisia, whose economy is dependent on tourism.

Tunis-based Shems FM is now also reporting that two assailants are dead and that the operation is over.

Tunisia's Mosaique FM now reports that the security force operation is over and two gunmen are dead.

Tunisia's Al Chourouk newspaper reports that seven of the dead are German, and one is Tunisian.

Farouk told World Have Your Say: "I was next to it. I heard it but didn't know at that moment what it was. Police said to us to go far from this place. My friend called and said there was shooting."

British, Italian, French and Spanish nationals are among the hostages taken, Tunisia's privately owned Mosaique FM radio station reports.

Farouk was on his way to meet his friend at the time, so he called him and realised he was inside the museum. His friend is safe with the police inside the museum.

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The BBC's World Have Your Say radio programme has been speaking to a Tunisian blogger, Farouk Afi, who was next to the museum when the attack started. You can listen to his interview here.

Speaking in Brussels, the French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, says: "I condemn this terrorist attack in the strongest terms. There has been a hostage-taking, without doubt tourists have been affected, killed."

People in Tunisia are tweeting that the country's main television networks are running live images showing the evacuation of the Bardo Museum.

Twitter

Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi tweets that he will address the nation later this afternoon.

Poland's foreign ministry says three Poles are among the wounded.

An official at the Italian foreign ministry in Rome says two Italians have been wounded in the attack, but it is unclear clear whether they were among the hostages, Reuters news agency reports.

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Here is a map of the area where the attacks have taken place - you can see just how close the Parliament building and the Pardo museum are to each other.

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For anyone following the events in Tunis on Twitter, the hashtags to follow seem to be #BardoAttack and #AttaqueBardo

The UK government says there is no official news of any UK casualties or hostages in Tunis. Its consular staff are making urgent enquiries.

Chems FM also says 21 people have been admitted to hospital in central Tunis.

State television says two armed men rammed their car into the parliament building and opened fire.

Tunis-based radio station Chems FM says a number of people have been freed from the museum by security forces in the last few minutes.

Interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told reporters there were eight victims, including seven foreigners.

Amelie Tulet, a journalist with the French-language RFI network, tweets: "According to an official source, after being unable to attack Parliament, the two assailants headed to the museum instead."

Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said there were about 100 tourists inside the museum, most of whom have been evacuated.

Members of Tunisia's security services are surrounding the parliament building and the Bardo Museum in Tunis.

EPA

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EPA

This is the first image of security forces outside the Bardo Museum in Tunis.

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