Tunisia attack: bodies to be flown home by RAF

A total of 39 people were killed when a gunman opened fire at popular holiday resort Sousse on Friday. Among the dead were Irish, German, French, Tunisian and Belgians.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed that 22 UK national victims have been positively identified, while a further eight are among the dead.

The first RAF flight to carry the bodies of Britons killed will arrive back in the UK on Wednesday, to be repatriated to the Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire.

It is unclear how many of the murdered tourists will be on the aircraft. However, further repatriation flights are expected over the course of the week as bodies are released by the Tunisian authorities.

Prime Minister David Cameron has called for a national minute’s silence at 12pm on Friday to remember the victims of the beach attack one week on.

He has pledged that the UK will not be cowed by the atrocity, vowing to “stand up for our way of life” and insisting the “great British spirit” would triumph in the face of adversity.

The Tunisian beach gunman, who has been named 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui, was shot dead by a police officer during the attack. People of his hometown Gaafour are reported not to have allowed the Rezgui family to bury him in a local graveyard.

Tunisian authorities have arrested three people on suspicion of helping the gunman with weapons and logistical support. They claim that Rezgui was linked to Islamic terror group Isis and the operation could have been planned six months ago.