Tunisian Museum Shooter May Have Had Muslim Brotherhood Ties

While the Islamic State has formally declared responsibility, a Tunisian political blog, Tunisia Secrets, is alleging that one of the shooters  responsible for the Bardo Museum attack, which killed more than 20, had ties to the Tunisian Muslim Brotherhoood-linked Ennahada party.  (H/T JawaReport) The blog displays a picture of what appears to be alleged shooter Saber Kachnaoui with Ennahada Party Vice President  ,and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Abdelfattah Mourou. Mourou is a co-founder of the Ennahada party together with Rachid  Ghannouchi, a major  figure in the Global Muslim Brotherhood.   The Tunisian blog goes on to describes Kachnaoui as a Ennahada party  activist before allegedly training in Libyan terror camps and traveling to Syria. As we have documented previously, Ennahada has been  accused of partnering with Al  Qaeda (and now Islamic State) linked Ansar Al-Sharia to target Tunisian political opponents for assassination.

We are likely to learn more about the shooters’ backgrounds over the coming days as the investigation continues. If the claim by Tunisian  Secrets holds up, it will serve as yet another reminder that there is no hard wall between political Islamists, and violent jihadists but rather a  shifting spectrum based on timing and tactical decision about when, and why to employ violence.

The Administration’s mistaken belief that it could undermine Al Qaeda and the violent jihad by bolstering the Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab Spring, are having a direct impact on the events we see today.

 (Photo Credit: https://www.tunisie-secret.com/)