Bardo National Museum attack — 2015 mass killing of hostages by militants in Tunis
The Bardo Museum attack was a major terrorist strike on European tourists in Tunisia, killing 22 and threatening the country's tourism-dependent economy.
Key Facts
- Date
- 18 March 2015
- Total killed
- 22 (21 at scene, 1 died ten days later)
- Injured
- Around 50
- Attackers
- Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, both killed by police
- Responsibility claimed by
- Islamic State; Tunisian govt blamed Uqba Ibn Nafi Brigade
- Follow-up raid
- Nine alleged militants killed by police ten days later
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Militants linked to jihadist networks — with the Islamic State claiming responsibility and the Tunisian government attributing the attack to the Uqba Ibn Nafi Brigade, a local al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb splinter group — targeted a high-profile site frequented by foreign visitors, reflecting broader instability and the spread of armed Islamist groups in post-revolution Tunisia.
On 18 March 2015, two Tunisian gunmen, Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, stormed the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, taking hostages and opening fire. Twenty-one people, predominantly European tourists, were killed at the scene, with a twenty-second victim dying ten days later. Approximately fifty others were wounded before police shot and killed both attackers.
The attack drew international condemnation and severely damaged Tunisia's tourism sector. A police raid ten days later killed nine suspected militants. The incident prompted heightened security measures across Tunisian cultural and tourist sites and underscored the country's vulnerability to extremist violence during its democratic transition.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent