Tourists flee Tunisia after massacre at resort

The mass shooting on Friday in the coastal city of Sousse was the worst terrorist strike ever in Tunisia, which had been considered an island of relative stability in an increasingly volatile region.

Within hours of the attack, diplomats, airlines and tour operators stepped in to provide bus transport from the stricken hotel and neighboring resorts to the nearest airport for flights out.

The militants of Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday’s assault, echoing a similar assertion made after a deadly attack in March on a museum in the capital, Tunis - though that claim was later called into question by Tunisian authorities, who blamed an al Qaeda offshoot instead.

Heightened safety measures announced at an overnight news conference by Prime Minister Habib Essid included the mobilization of army reservists for deployment to tourist-heavy areas such as beach resorts and archaeological sites, and the closing of about 80 mosques operating outside official controls and accused of “spreading venom.”

Economic discontent was a driving force behind the uprising against longtime dictator Zine Abidine Ben Ali that erupted nearly five years ago, and chronic joblessness among young men is viewed as heightening the lure of Islamic extremism.