birthplace of the arab spring. and it was considered the success story because it had successful peaceful elections. but even as the lid was lifted off the political landscape in tunisia, it also meant this explosion of very extremist political islamist thought. and we have seen a number of groups like this operating in the area. and, again, the influence of isis cannot be underestimated. so it's a particularly shocking thing for tunisians because when they've seen attacks like this it's always happened perhaps on the borders of libya or algeria, but never specifically targeting a tourist attraction like this. >> atika, stand by. i want to go inside tunis right now. a journalist is joining us. tell us what you're seeing right now. i assume there's a significant military presence. any tourists around? >> reporter: the tourists have all gone. they never actually came outside