TUNIS — An annual Jewish pilgrimage to Africa’s oldest synagogue started Wednesday in Tunisia where security forces were deployed heavily to ward off potential terrorist attacks.

Small groups of pilgrims including families with children began arriving in the searing heat at the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia for the Lag BaOmer festival.

Organizers expect up to 2,000 people to visit over two days, despite heightened worries about security following a string of militant attacks in the North African country.

Police and soldiers were out in force while a helicopter flew overhead. The island’s Jewish district Hara Kbira was cordoned off and visitors were required to undergo searches.

The number of pilgrims visiting the synagogue has fallen sharply since a suicide bombing claimed by al-Qaeda struck Ghriba just before the 2002 pilgrimage, killing 21 people.

Before then the event attracted as many as 8,000 people.

Believed to have been founded in 586 BC by Jews fleeing the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, the Ghriba synagogue has long been a destination for pilgrims, especially for Jews of Tunisian descent.

Around 1,500 Jews live in Tunisia, down sharply from an estimated 100,000 before the country won independence from France in 1956.

Pilgrims visit the tombs of famous rabbis, pray, light candles and write wishes on eggs.