All British nationals are being urged to leave Tunisia as a further terror attack is “highly likely”, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said.
Hammond said there was no suggestion of a “specific or imminent threat”, but said the Foreign Office was advising against all non-essential travel there.
It estimates there are up to 3,000 UK tourists currently in Tunisia and a few hundred British residents.
Thirty of the 38 tourists killed in an attack there last month were British.
Britons currently in Tunisia are urged to get in touch with their tour operators to plan their return to the UK, with those travelling independently advised to return on commercial flights, reports the BBC.
Hammond said: “While we do not have any information suggesting a specific or imminent threat, since the attack in Sousse the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely.”
The Foreign Office is in close contact with tour operators who are now arranging to “bring their customers home as quickly as possible”, Hammond said.
He added: “The Tunisian investigation into those behind the Sousse attack, and that on the Bardo Museum earlier this year, is on-going and the Tunisians have made clear they want to track down further individuals who they suspect may have links to this attack.
“Furthermore, we have now completed an assessment of the security measures in tourist areas and while we are working with the Tunisian authorities to further strengthen those measures, we judge that more work is needed to effectively protect tourists from the terrorist threat.
“Taking all these factors together, we judge that it is right and prudent to make this change today.”
Hammond said there was no suggestion of a “specific or imminent threat”, but said the Foreign Office was advising against all non-essential travel there.
It estimates there are up to 3,000 UK tourists currently in Tunisia and a few hundred British residents.
Thirty of the 38 tourists killed in an attack there last month were British.
Britons currently in Tunisia are urged to get in touch with their tour operators to plan their return to the UK, with those travelling independently advised to return on commercial flights, reports the BBC.
Hammond said: “While we do not have any information suggesting a specific or imminent threat, since the attack in Sousse the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely.”
The Foreign Office is in close contact with tour operators who are now arranging to “bring their customers home as quickly as possible”, Hammond said.
He added: “The Tunisian investigation into those behind the Sousse attack, and that on the Bardo Museum earlier this year, is on-going and the Tunisians have made clear they want to track down further individuals who they suspect may have links to this attack.
“Furthermore, we have now completed an assessment of the security measures in tourist areas and while we are working with the Tunisian authorities to further strengthen those measures, we judge that more work is needed to effectively protect tourists from the terrorist threat.
“Taking all these factors together, we judge that it is right and prudent to make this change today.”
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