Tunisia: European ‘Travel firms’ pull out over fears of terror attack

European 'Travel operators' announced, on Friday they have begun pulling out of Tunisia as a holiday destination as fears grow with warnings of imminent fresh terror attack in the North African country.The move comes barely 24 hours after the UK government ordered Britons in Tunisia to leave the country following intelligence gathered by London that a terrorist attack is "highly likely".

Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond explained: "While we do not have any information suggesting a specific or imminent threat, since the attack in Sousse the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely�.

Travel operators – Thomson and First Choice said the Foreign Office's directive has prompted them to immediately cancel all outbound flights to Tunisia for the summer season running up to and including October 31.

Spokesman for the firms explained the move "as a precautionary measure we have taken the decision to repatriate all British Thomson and First Choice staff currently working in Tunisia within the next 24 hours�!

The management confirmed that all 30 of the Britons who were killed in the recent beach massacre in Sousse were Thomson and First Choice customers.

A leading European travel firm Thomas Cook UK and Ireland announced it had cancelled all future bookings to Tunisia up to the same date.

Thomas Cook management said it will be bringing all of its customers back to the UK "as soon as we can".

Officials said: “The safety and well-being of our customers is our primary concern. As always, we have been closely following the advice from the Foreign Office and local authorities to monitor the situation in Tunisia."

The Tunisian envoy, Ammar who has been holding series of meetings with authorities in London, admitted that his country is facing huge challenges at the moment â€" and urged the international community to also consider the issue of poverty and economic perspective as another inducing factor of terrorism and fundamentalism.

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