Militants Kill three Tunisian soldiers near Algerian border
At least three Tunisian troops have been killed and seven others wounded during fresh clashes with al-Qaeda-linked militants near the country’s border with Algeria.
Tunisia’s Defense Ministry spokesman Belhassen Oueslati said on Friday that three troops were killed and seven others wounded during a fierce exchange of fire in the militancy-riddled Salloum Mountain in Kasserine province on Thursday
The spokesman also added that at least 10 militants were also killed during fierce battles in the troubled area.
On Wednesday, an army trooper was killed in the same mountainous region, which has been the site of constant clashes between al-Qaeda-linked militants and soldiers since the end of 2012.
The remote mountainous regions of Tunisia near the Algerian border have been a hotbed for extremists over the past few years. The al-Qaeda-linked Oqba ibn Nafaa Brigade is also based in the same troubled region.
In July 2013, an attack on the Tunisian military killed eight soldiers in the Mount Chaambi area, near the border with Algeria.
The government forces have recently launched a massive crackdown on the positions of the militants to force them from their hideouts near the Algerian border.
In late March, Tunisian forces said they had killed nine militants during a security operation in Gafsa, about 95 kilometers (59 miles) southwest of Sbeitla.
Several security personnel have been killed over the past months in what the Tunisian government describes as terrorism-related incidents.
The latest attack comes against the backdrop of a fatal assault on March 18, when gunmen in fatigues stormed the National Bardo Museum in the capital, Tunis. Twenty foreign tourists, two Tunisians, including a police officer, were killed in the incident, which was one of the worst militant attacks in the country.
The ISIL Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack that lasted about four hours.
The people of Tunisia, the birthplace of pro-democracy protests across North Africa and the Middle East, revolted against Western-backed dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Despite the political stability since then, insurgency and terrorist activities still threaten the North African country.
JR/AS/MHB
Moroccan activist gets prison sentence for criticizing normalization with Israel
Gaza genocide becoming reminiscent of Rwanda genocide, Algeria warns
'Void peace treaty with Israel': Moroccans join Jordanian protests
French police arrest man after threatening to detonate himself at Iran consulate
Yemenis, Jordanians reiterate support for Palestinians in Gaza
Iranians rally nationwide in support of Operation True Promise
Raeisi: Operation True Promise ‘a necessary response’ to Israel
OIC slams US for blocking Palestine’s bid for full UN membership
US police arrest 108 pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University
Top commander names four 'historic achievements' of Operation True Promise
VIDEO | Iranian attack and crisis of entity
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
