Tunisia denies drone attack on Soumoud flotilla

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Tunisian Interior Ministry denied, in a statement early Tuesday reports that one of the boats in the ‘’Semmoud'' flotilla bound for Gaza, which docked at the port of Sidi Bou Said, had been hit by a drone off the coast of Tunis.

These reports are unfounded,’ the statement said, noting that specialised security units quickly detected the source of a fire that started in a life jacket and brought it under control.

The incident did not result in any loss of life or material damage, with only a few life jackets catching fire, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said.

The Tunisian gendarmerie had previously denied the same reports, which it described as ‘’baseless''.

According to the gendarmerie, ‘there was no attack from outside’.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, called on Tuesday for urgent protection’ of the other boats in the Soumoud flotilla.

She said that the main ship in the flotilla had been hit by a drone in the port of Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia, before insisting on the need to protect two other ships leaving for Tunis to join the flotilla.

Reports had indicated unusual aerial activity in the Sicilian Strait between Tunisia and Italy, where several military aircraft, including two C130s, were seen taking off and landing at night at the US naval base in Sigolenna, Italy.

The Sigolenna base on the island of Sicily is one of the most important American bases in the Mediterranean.

-0- PANA YY/IN/IS/BBA/RA 9Sept2025