TUNIS: The two gunmen who killed 21 people at a museum in Tunis trained in neighboring Libya before carrying out the deadly attack and were known to authorities, Tunisian security officials said Friday.
The attackers slipped out of the country in December and received weapons training in Libya which is awash in well-armed militias fighting for control, said Rafik Chelli, a top official in the Interior Ministry in a TV interview late Thursday.
One of them, Hatem Khachnaoui, 26, was from the central city of Sbeitla and had previously been arrested on terrorism charges before being released, according to Sabhi Jouini, a leading figure in the police union and a terrorism expert.
Khachnaoui’s father and sister in Sbeitla were arrested Thursday along with two others from the region on suspicion of supporting the attackers. Another five people with direct connection to the attack were picked up around the capital.
Khachnaoui’s associate, Yassine Laabidi was only 20 years old and had less of a record with police, though he is known to have worked in a travel agency and hails from the working class Tunis neighborhood of Ibn Khaldun.
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