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Tunis museum shooting: Moroccan man arrested in connection with attack after allegedly travelling to Italy on board migrant boat

Attack in March killed 22 people, including two of the three gunmen

Rose Troup Buchanan
Wednesday 20 May 2015 13:14 BST
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Touil Abdel Majid, 22, was arrested at his mother's home outside Milan
Touil Abdel Majid, 22, was arrested at his mother's home outside Milan

A Moroccan man has been arrested by Italian police in connection with the attack on the Tunisian Bardo museum that left 22 people dead.

Touil Abdel Majid, 22, was arrested yesterday evening at his mother’s house in Gaggiano, near Milan.

It is believed he arrived in Port Empedocle, Sicily, earlier this year in February along with 90 other migrants, Italian news agency ANSA claimed.

The Moroccan national faces charges including premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit attacks against the internal security of the state, belonging to a terrorist group and recruiting and training others to commit terrorist attacks, anti-terrorism investigator Bruno Megale told reporters.

"He was wanted internationally for co-participation in, planning and executing the March 18 attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis," Mr Megale said.

Three gunmen stormed the popular museum in the Tunisian capital on 18 March this year killing 21 people – among them four Italians – with another later dying from their wounds.

Two of the gunmen were killed in the confrontation, later claimed by terror organisation Isis, with the third individual escaping.

It is believed that authorities were able to identify Mr Majid after his mother reported her son’s passport missing to police.

Mr Megale added that Mr Abel Majid was unknown to authorities – aside from an expulsion order dating from shortly after he is believed to have arrived in Sicily.

News of Mr Abel Majid’s movements comes following warnings from Libyan that Isis militants are smuggling jihadists into Europe.

Libya, presently engulfed in a destructive civil conflict, has become one of the major staging posts for migrants desperate to reach Europe.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

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