The attack in Ben Guerdane – in the southeast of the country, along the Libyan border – is the second deadly clash in less than week as fighting in neighboring Libya threatens to spill across the border. Hospital and security sources said at least seven civilians were killed along with 11 soldiers. The divided country is ruled by two parliaments: an internationally recognized body based in the eastern city of Tobruk and a rival government, backed by Islamist-allied militias, that controls the capital, Tripoli.
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Tunisia’s government says the death toll in clashes between gunmen and security forces in a town bordering Libya has risen to 53.
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.
“Most Tunisians are in a state of war against this recklessness, against these rats”, he said, referring to the Islamic State.
Islamist militants trained in Libya carried out several attacks on Tunisia past year, including on the Tunis Bardo museum and a Sousse beach hotel targeting foreign tourists. A night curfew has been ordered in the town until further notice.
Essid said officials were still investigating whether the group of 50 militants had infiltrated across the frontier from Libya, though officials found three caches of arms, explosives and rockets in Ben Guerdan after the attack.
The Islamic State is among a host of armed factions in Libya, but its attempts to expand its hold has drawn increasing alarm from the West and neighbors such as Tunisia. Monday, he said that their aim was to establish an “emirate” of the Islamic State group (IS) in Ben Guerdane, while President Beji Caid Essebsi considered the attack “unprecedented, coordinated ” .
The Tunisian military sent reinforcements and helicopters to the area around Ben Guerdane, and authorities were hunting several attackers still at large.
The government has issued a curfew in Djerba and Ben Gardane, encouraging people to stay in indoors as well as restricting travel around the border.
The interior and defense ministries said in a joint statement Monday that the dead included 21 attackers, one Tunisian soldier and four civilians. Tunisian security officials say increasingly they are returning to join the militant group in Libya over the border. As a result, Tunisian security forces were placed on alert based on “precise information” of possible border infiltrations following the February 19 raid.
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A USA air strike on an IS training camp outside Sabratha last month killed dozens of Tunisian militants, including the suspected mastermind of two of last year’s attacks, Noureddine Chouchane.
