Gunmen Open Fire in Tunisia, Killing at Least 20 Tourists

Gunmen reportedly stormed a museum in Tunisia's capital on Wednesday, killing at least 20.

The attack happened Wednesday in front of the National Bardo Museum in central Tunis while tourists were exiting a bus to visit the museum.

Local police have said that two gunmen were killed by police while another three are still being searched for.

According to Reuters, tourists from Japan, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain were killed in the shooting that took place in the capital's parliament compound, which houses the popular Bardo Museum.

Witnesses described scenes of carnage as tourists were helpless in defending themselves against the onslaught of gunfire as they exited their buses.

"They just started opening fire on the tourists as they were getting out of the buses […] I couldn't see anything except blood and the dead," one driver of a tourist bus told Reuters.

The identity of the attackers remains unclear, although the Islamic State terrorist group took responsibility for the attack via Twitter.

The White House also released a statement condemning Wednesday's attack, with spokesman Josh Earnest saying the U.S. "will continue to stand with our Tunisian partners against terrorist violence."

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims of today's heinous violence in Tunisia and condemn in the strongest terms this terrorist attack, which took the lives of innocent Tunisians as well as visiting tourists," Earnest said.

Earnest added that the United States is proud of its "robust cooperation with Tunisia on counterterrorism and broader security issues."