Tunisians lay flowes on the beach of the empty resort at Sousse. Demotix/ Chedly Ben Ibrahim. All rights reserved.The full impact of the multiple killing of British holidaymakers in Tunisia on 26 June 2015 is being felt with the gradual return of the estimated thirty bodies. Several key aspects of this and related incidents continue to emerge, which have serious implications for attempts to deal with Islamic State. Not least of these is the immediate promise of British prime minister David Cameron of a “full-spectrum response”. There is little indication so far of what that would actually mean, apart from defence secretary Michael Fallon hinting that the UK's military involvement in the air war to Syria might be extended.
The first aspect to note is that the attack in the resort of Sousse turned out to be utterly different from what was initially assumed, namely the random action of a young man acting alone. Instead, it was part of a developing campaign by elements linked to Islamic State, and with multiple aims.
Seifeddine Rezgui’s assault on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, which killed thirty-eight people in all, was specifically targeted at British tourists - to the extent of Rezgui deliberately avoiding killing Tunisians, even when some of them courageously stood in his way. It was thus also fired against the country which is second only to the United States in the pursuit of the now ten‐month air war with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
