The African Union strongly condemns the terrorist attacks perpetrated in Tunis and in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt

The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Dr. NkosazanaDlamini-Zuma, strongly condemns the despicable terrorist attacks perpetrated yesterday in Tunis against members of the defense and security forces, and in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, against a hotel. The two attacks killed several people and wounded many others.

In these difficult times, the Chairperson of the Commission expresses the AU's deepest condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the peoples and Governments of Egypt and Tunisia. She wishes speedy recovery to the injured. She reiterates the AU's full solidarity with Egypt and Tunisia and its support to their efforts aimed at combating terrorism and violent extremism, within the framework of the relevant African and international instruments.

The Chairperson of the Commission notes that these attacks occurred against the backdrop of the worsening of the scourge of terrorism in the world, including the Continent, as evidenced by the attack recently perpetrated in Bamako, Mali, the continuation, by the Boko Haram terrorist group, of its attacks on civilian populations and state institutions in the Lake Chad Basin region, and the destabilizing activities of the al Shabaab terrorist group. In this regard, she reiterates the need for the enhancement of inter-African cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism and calls for renewed efforts to effectively implement the relevant African and international instruments, including the 1999 OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combatting of Terrorism and its 2004 Additional Protocol, as well as of the measures contained in the communiqué adopted by the summit meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council on terrorism and violent extremism, held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 2 September 2014.