TUNIS
Tunisian authorities on Thursday announced that the Uqba Ibn Nafi Brigades militant group had perpetrated last week's deadly attack on Tunis' Bardo Museum.
"Elements of the outlawed Ansar al-Sharia organization who had pledged loyalty to the Uqba Ibn Nafi Brigades carried out the Bardo museum operation," Tunisian Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli said at a press conference held at a security barracks in Tunis.
Gharsalli identified the chief architect of the attack as Algeria-based Brigades leader Khaled al-Shayeb, also known as Luqman Abu Sakhr.
The Daesh militant group, to which the Uqba ibn Nafi Brigades is said to have pledged allegiance, had earlier claimed last week's shooting rampage in Tunis' Bardo museum, which left 23 people – mostly foreign tourists – dead.
Tourists from Italy, Japan, Poland and Spain were among those killed in the attack.
In the wake of the attack, several Tunisian security officials were sacked.
The Tunisian cabinet, meanwhile, approved new counter-terrorism legislation this week, which is now awaiting ratification in parliament.
