Tunisia: Location for Star Wars shooting became Islamic State waypoint

A tidy parable for the long-range trajectory of the Western world, unless there is some drastic change.

“Star Wars Day: How real-life Tatooine location became ISIS waypoint,” by Berny Torre, Daily Star, May 4, 2021:

In a galaxy not so far away, the real-life desert world of Tatooine has been devastated by both ISIS and now Covid.

Tataouine in south Tunisia was George Lucas’s inspiration for the name of Luke Skywalker’s home planet.

Die-hard fans often made pilgrimages to film sets in the country in the fringes of the Sahara Desert.

The stunning underground “cave dwellings” of the native Berber population were always the major draw for tourists and filmmakers.

They were made a world-famous sight since their first appearance in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977, providing tourism jobs in a barren landscape where average temperatures range from -1.8C to 48.6C….

But in March 2015, two Isis gunmen stormed into the Bardo museum in the capital Tunis, shooting 23 people dead before being killed by security forces.

And reports soon emerged that Tataouine was being used as a base for Isis fighters to cross into the neighbouring country of Libya.

Tunisia was still recovering from the devastating Arab Spring revolution from four years ago.

But CNN revealed three young men were arrested in Tataouine as they allegedly made plans to cross the border 60 miles to the east to join a terrorist network.

It was reported that two arms caches had been found in the region that month.

One included rocket-propelled grenade launchers and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition.

Tunisia’s tourism officials denied there was any danger in the city following the devastating reports….