Dozens of militants stormed through the border town of Ben Guerdan on Monday attacking army and police posts and triggering street battles during which troops killed 36 fighters.
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Last week, Tunisian authorities said five militants had been killed and a cache of weapons seized in Ben Guerdane. “No fewer than 10 terrorists were killed, and one was wounded and arrested”, ministry spokesman Rachid Bouhoula told AFP.
Tunisia has built a fence along the border with Libya but that doesn’t seem to stop the movement of armed attackers coming in from Libya and targeting the army and security forces.
The interior and defense ministries say in Monday night’s statement that security operations are continuing in the town of Ben Guerdane.
Deadly attacks by IS on foreign holidaymakers past year, which dealt a devastating blow to Tunisia’s tourism industry, are believed to have been planned from Libya.
Tunisia’s Prime Minister Habib Essid announces a new cabinet ministers list after presenting the list to the Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi during a press conference at Carthage Palace in Tunis on January 23, 2015. “The majority of Tunisians are now in a state of war against barbarism”, Essebsi said.
Commenters on two Islamic State-affiliated websites say militants loyal to the extremist group are involved in the attack.
The defence ministry said at least 35 fighters, six members of the National Guard, two policemen, a customs official and a soldier died in the fighting, the defence ministry said.
Powerful explosions heard in the Tunisian city of Ben Gardane near the border with Libya on Tuesday were the sound of the military destroying grenades seized from attackers, local media reported.
“This attack is just reinforcing the urgent need for a political solution in Libya”, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the country was targeted because of its “exemplary democratic transition”.
According to Tunisian authorities, the attackers had been trained in Libya.
Hospital official Abdelkrim Chafroud said a 12-year-old boy was among the dead civilians.
Last month, USA warplanes killed at least 43 people in an attack on an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya, 60 miles from the border with Tunisia.
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Defense Minister Farhat Horchani said last week that German and American security experts were expected to arrive Monday in Tunis to help Tunisia devise a new electronic video surveillance system of its border with Libya.
