Gaza flotilla reports second drone attack off Tunisian coast
According to social media posts, one of the boats of an aid flotilla heading for Gaza, has been attacked for the second time off the coast of Tunisia, SBS News via AFP reported on September 9th.
The social media account for the Global Sumud Fllotilla (GSF) posted “another boat has been hit” as Francesca Albanese, the UN special reporter for the occupied Palestinian territories, posted a video of the deck of the Alma boat being set ablaze.
Albanese’s video displays a cascade of fire falling out of the sky on the flotilla’s deck, and the deck then begins to blaze. Albanese put a caption for the video which read: “Video evidence suggests a drone — with no light so it could not be seen — dropped a device that set the deck of the Alma boat on fire.”
She continued: “Expert sources suggest that it was an incendiary grenade wrapped in plastic materials dipped in fuel, which could have been set on fire before landing on the ship.”
The GSF further explained that the Alma boat had “sustained fire damage on its top deck” because it had been “attacked.” The GSF has also said no one was hurt.
The attack on the British-flagged Alma boat occurred whilst the boat was docked within Tunisian waters.
On September 9th, claims of a similar drone attack on a boat carrying the GSF’s steering committee and prominent participants of the flotilla, including Greta Thunberg, was posted on social media – with video footage.
Tunisian authorities have disputed the claims of drone attacks, stating the claims were “unfounded” as no drones were detected off the coat of Tunisia.
The claim seems to contradict video evidence of the first incident which displayed an object falling upon the deck just before a fire broke out.
Tunisian authorities have been cracking down on pro-Palestine activists.
In March, pro-Palestine activist Mohamed Amin Touihri was arrested by Tunisian authorities after he stormed the pitch of a world cup qualifier match.
Meanwhile on August 30th, pro-Palestine protestors were left bloodied after being brutally assaulted by security guards in Tunisia.
SBS News via AFP, Maghrebi.org
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