Tour Operators Evacuate Thousands From Tunisia

Tour companies were evacuating thousands of foreign visitors from Tunisia on Saturday, a day after a gunman killed 39 people at a beach hotel in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid said most of the dead were British, and Britain's foreign office said 15 Britons had been confirmed killed in the attack in the resort town of Sousse, 140 km (90 miles) south of the capital Tunis.

A German, a Belgian and an Irish woman have also been identified, foreign and Tunisian officials said.

It was the second major attack in the North African country this year, following an Islamist militant assault on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March when gunmen killed a group of foreign visitors as they arrived by bus.

Tunisia has undergone a largely peaceful transition to democracy since its 2011 Arab Spring uprising, but its army has been fighting a rise in Islamist militancy.

Tunisia's tourism minister called Friday's attack in one of the country's most popular resorts for Europeans a "catastrophe" and authorities vowed to toughen security, drafting in army reserves and arming tourism police at beaches and hotels.

Saloua Kadri, Sousse tourism commissioner, said more than 3,000 foreign tourists had fled the town on Saturday, including around 2,200 British and nearly 600 Belgians.

Dozens of tourists were waiting to take flights out from the nearby Ennfida airport.

"We don't want to stay any longer, we just want to see our family, parents... so leaving as soon as possible," said Hannah Russel, a British tourist.

Sarah Maeson, another Briton flying back to Manchester, said: "We don't feel safe. Constantly hearing sirens and helicopters is not really helping your nerves."