Tunisia to boost security, arm tourist police after attack

Tunisia said it would arm tourism police and deploy hundreds of reinforcements as authorities moved to boost security after a jihadist gunned down 38 people at a seaside resort in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Police on horseback and quad bikes patrolled the beach at Port El Kantaoui north of Sousse, where the worst jihadist attack in Tunisia's history took place on June 26.
 
On June 29, interior ministers from Britain -- the country hardest hit -- France and Germany will visit the seaside Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel south of Tunis, where the killings took place.
 
The brutal attack by a lone gunman saw at least 15 Britons and one German among those killed, and dealt a heavy blow to the vital tourism industry.    

Tourists gathered around bouquets of flowers laid in the sand, one asking simply: "Why (did) they die?"   UK Prime Minister David Cameron called for a fightback against extremism in response to the mass shooting, as the BBC reported the number of British victims may rise to more than 30.    

In Tunis, leaders of the North African country scrambled to find ways to bolster security.
 
The tourism ministry confirmed plans to deploy 1,000 armed officers from July 1 to reinforce the tourism police, who will now also carry guns for the first time.
 
Armed officers will be deployed "inside and outside hotels", on beaches and at tourist and archaeological sites, the ministry said.
 
Authorities have also announced plans to close 80 mosques accused of inciting extremism.
 
The June 26 attack saw a Tunisian student disguised as a tourist pull out a Kalashnikov assault rifle hidden inside a beach umbrella and open fire on holidaymakers at...