The radical Islamic State Group claimed responsibility for the attack on a famed Tunis museum that left 23 people dead, scores of tourists wounded and upended the country's struggling tourism industry. Hundreds of Tunisians rallied on Thursday at the National Bardo Museum, stepping around trails of blood and broken glass to proclaim their solidarity with the victims and with Tunisia's fledgling democracy.
Tunisian security forces, meanwhile, arrested nine people, the president's office said, adding that five of them were directly connected to yesterday's attack on the Bardo by two gunmen who were later slain by police.
The other four suspects who were arrested in central Tunisia were part of a cell supporting those involved in the attack, the statement said. Prime Minister Habib Essid told France's RTl radio that Tunisia was working with other countries to learn more about the slain attackers, identified as Yassine laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui.