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UK government tells tourists to leave Tunisia

Prime Minister Essid deemed the decision would deal a blow to Tunisian economy, largely based on the tourism sector.

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The UK Foreign Office warned on Thursday that a further terrorist attack was “highly likely” following the massacre at a beach resort in Sousse at the end of June.

Hammond said more work was needed to protect tourists and British tourists were instructed to leave.

The head of the Islamist party Ennahda’s group in parliament, Noureddine Bhiri, called the British decision “manifestly damaging to Tunisia and its democratic process”.

Tunisia, Africa’s northernmost country, is a popular tourist destination in the Mediterranean – but is rife with tension, as terrorist groups exist in close proximity there.

The Foreign Office said: “The Tunisian authorities have increased their security measures but have also acknowledged the limitations in their ability to counter the current terrorist threat”.

Are there not security measures in place?

The government says limits on some freedoms are necessary to ensure security. “Our country is going through a delicate situation, and is in danger”.

Following the Tunisia attack that killed several British tourists last month, the United Kingdom government advised all its citizens, on Thursday, to leave Tunisia because of another possible terrorist attack that is highly likely to happen there again.

Last month’s massacre followed one in March, when two jihadists gunned down 21 tourists at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.

The Foreign Office said it did not have specific information about an imminent attack, but intelligence indicated “that a further terrorist attack is highly likely”.

But the Foreign Office said it did not believe they provided “adequate protection” and advised against all but essential travel.

The government confirmed tour operators will be arranging extra flights to make sure holidaymakers can leave.

The Government is advising against all but essential travel to Tunisia and holiday companies are flying Britons back to the UK.

Thomas Cook and First Choice have said that they’re cancelling all future bookings to Tunisia until 31st October.

The Association of British Travel Agents said its members were aiming to bring customers home in the next 48 hours.

For TUI and Thomas Cook, Europe’s two biggest holiday firms, North Africa account for about 10 percent of passengers, a third of them in Tunisia. The operator now has no customers from Bristol in the country.

“We all feel perfectly safe within the hotel”, she told Channel 4 News. “They have been awesome”.

Thousands chose to return home after the shooting, although some chose to stay and show solidarity with local Tunisians, some of whom tried to fight the gunmen and formed human shields to prevent him from killing tourists.

The returning holidaymakers will touch down in Manchester as some of the funerals of the Britons killed in Sousse take place.

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The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, upgraded the travel advice to be the second-highest warning category in the five-point scale of travel advice, from exercising extreme caution.

'Terrorism threat': Foreign Office urge all Brits to leave Tunisia | Metro News