Officials say a suicide bomber detonated on an empty beach in front of a hotel in the Tunisian Mediterranean resort town of Sousse. He was the only fatality. An employee at the hotel told the BBC the blast occurred at 09:45 local time (08:45 GMT) close to the Riadh Palms hotel and that no-one was hurt except for the bomber.
The male attacker was wearing a belt of explosives according to Tunisia’s Tap state news agency. The AFP news agency reported that witnesses said the bomber was spotted and chased from the hotel onto an empty beach where he blew himself up.
In a separate plot to attack ex-President Habib Bourguiba’s tomb, security sources say police captured another would-be suicide bomber before he could detonate.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mhamed Ali Laroui told AFP, “an attempted attack targeting the compound of the Bourguiba mausoleum was foiled… and a young man carrying explosives was arrested.”
Since the 2011 uprising, Tunisia has seen a rise in attacks by militants.
Some attacks more successful than others.