At least 27 dead in Tunisia resort attack

(AFP/CS) A gunman shot dead at least 27 people, including foreign tourists, in an attack Friday outside a beach resort hotel served by LuxairTours in Tunisia. None of the victims were LuxairTours customers.

Authorities branded the incident at the popular Port El Kantaoui resort, near Sousse, a "terrorist attack."

Witnesses described scenes of panic and confusion after the shooting, with Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui saying one assailant was killed.

Initial reports stated that seven people had been killed. This number jumped first to 19 and then to 27, with more people injured.

The attack happened on the beach between several hotels, including the Riu Imperial Marhaba and the Riu Bellevue Park, both of which were listed in the LuxairTours catalogue. 

A LuxairTours spokesperson said that 26 travellers with the holiday operator from the Greater Region were in Tunisia. While 12 of them were booked at the Riu Imperial Marhaba, none of its customers were among the victims.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, currently at an EU summit in Brussels, is in contact with Luxembourg authorities and LuxairTours. An emergency meeting is ongoing, according to RTL.

The shooting comes just months after a March attack on the Bardo National Museum in Tunis killed 21 foreign tourists and a policeman.

In October 2013, a suicide bomber blew himself in a botched attack on a beach in Sousse while security forces foiled another planned attack nearby.