star wars fans who once flocked to the tunisian town which was luke skywalker's home are now staying away because of the proximity of violent jihadists the desert cliffs around the town of tataouine were once the backdrop for much of the 1977 classic, parts of which were filmed in the arab state the year before the struggling town on the fringes of the sahara still draws a few fans of the movie but now finds itself part of a real conflict, as a way station for jihadists crossing the libyan border 60 miles to the east, according to cnn the igloo home of luke and his foster family was destroyed in the film by stormtroopers from the galactic empire, but should militants extend their reach across the border, it could well be threatened for real scroll down for video  luke skywalker's home in the first star wars film in 1977 is close to the town of tataouine in tunisia  tatouine is now threatened by the rise of an isis affiliate group just 60 miles away in neighbouring libya  the granaries in tataouine which were made famous in star wars and still attract fans of the sci fi classic  three young men were arrested in the area earlier this month as they allegedly made plans to cross into libya and join an affiliate of islamic state, whose tentacles now stretch half way across the country two arms caches, one of which included rocket propelled grenade launchers and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, have also been found in the region this month they are thought to have been removed from a libyan armory in the aftermath of former dictator moammar gadhafi's ouster in 2011 this area is vast and sparsely populated, with dozens of smugglers' tracks along which petrol, drugs and other contraband are smuggled across the frontier there is now a 18 mile no go zone inside the 380 mile long border, and the military has built fortified positions every couple of miles the tunisian government claims the security presence has been boosted seven to tenfold c 3po und r2 d2 in the tunisian desert during filming the area is under threat from an isis affiliate group  a valley near tataouinethree young men were arrested in the area earlier this month as they allegedly made plans to cross into libya and join an affiliate of islamic state  luke skywalker's restored igloo home which was renovated by a group of star wars fans in 2012  a much wider 12 mile buffer zone has also been created, which people can only enter with permission, and men aged 18 35 have reportedly been banned from going to libya unless they have residence papers and proof of employment there even so the two gunmen who stormed into the bardo museum in the capital tunis last week, who were both in their twenties, had been able to cross illicitly into libya in december, according to tunisian state security minister rafik chelly chelly told a tunisian network the pair had received weapons training in the isis stronghold of derna japanese, spanish, italian and colombian tourists were among  the 20 victims when the gunmen opened fire on their buses  as they arrived at the museum, which houses some of  the roman artifacts that are one of tunisia's major draws tourism minister salma loumi said the impact from the attack  appeared limited so far, with a few cancellations but words of  encouragement from travel agency and tour company partners for  the north african country's mostly package holiday bookings six million tourists, mostly europeans, hit tunisia's yellow  sand beaches, desert treks and medina souks last year, providing  seven percent of its gross domestic product, most of its foreign  currency revenues and more jobs than anything but farming an isis supporter in raqqa, syria an affiliate group is making ground in libya, which borders tunisia  tunisians holding candles pray at the entrance gate of the national bardo museum in the tunisian capital tunis where 20 people were killed after gunmen staged in an attack  the attackers clearly aimed to cut this lifeline 'they wanted to hit us through our economic backbone,' loumi  told reuters 'but they won't succeed' her ministry's figures show visitor numbers have yet to  catch up with the years before the arab spring uprising that  toppled zine el abidine ben ali and ushered in an uncertain  period of political transition now that democracy and political compromise have emerged,  the country hopes to revive economic growth and is counting on  attractions like its carthage roman ruins and the great mosque  of kairouan, part of a unesco heritage site president beji caid essebsi has ordered the army to protect  major cities and more than 20 people have been arrested since  the tunis attack security forces at the scene shot dead two gunmen but another is still on the loose and some of more than  3,000 tunisians to join islamist militant groups in iraq and  syria have returned home, raising fears of more attacks after wednesday's bardo assault, several tour companies  suspended some services to tunis, notably the cruise ship owners  who, shaken by the deaths of some of their passengers in the  attacks, said they would bypass the city for the time being an initial study by the finance ministry estimated that  losses for the industry may reach $700 million, compared with  annual revenues from tourism in 2014 of close to $2 billion militants have targeted the tourism industry before an al  qaeda suicide bomber killed 21 people in 2002 in the southern  island of djerba in 2013, another bomber blew himself up on the  beach in sousse no one else was killed
1977 sahara libyan igloo luke isis libya december
desert cliffs around town were once backdrop for much of 1977 classic . on fringes of sahara it still draws a few fans but is now part of real conflict . is used as way station for jihadists crossing libyan border to join militants . igloo home of luke and foster family was raised in film by stormtroopers . could be threatened for real if isis affiliate group reaches across frontier . two tunis museum gunmen had crossed illicitly into libya in december 