DJERBA, Tunisia, (APP/AFP): An annual Jewish pilgrimage to Africa’s oldest synagogue got under way Wednesday in Tunisia where security forces were deployed heavily to ward off potential militants attacks.
Small groups of pilgrims including families with children began arriving in the searing heat at the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia for the Lag BaOmer festival.
Organisers expect up to 2,000 people to visit over two days, despite
heightened worries about security following a string of militants attacks in the North African country.
Police and soldiers were out in force while a helicopter flew overhead. The island’s Jewish district Hara Kbira was cordoned off and visitors were required to undergo searches.
The number of pilgrims visiting the synagogue has fallen sharply since a suicide bombing claimed by Al-Qaeda struck Ghriba just before the 2002 pilgrimage, killing 21 people.
Before then the event attracted as many as 8,000 people.