Tunisian security official, three 'terrorists' killed in clashes near Algerian border

A senior Tunisian policeman and three Islamist militants, described as 'terrorists' by the government, were killed on Monday in a security operation near the Algerian border.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

02 September, 2019

The clashes erupted during a planned security operation [AFP]

The head of a national guard centre in the western Tunisian province of Kasserine was killed in clashes with "terrorists" on Monday, the interior ministry said.

"Three terrorists were eliminated in a pre-emptive security operation," Khaled Hayouni, the spokesman for the interior ministry said.

"The security operation was planned and aimed to track down terrorist elements," Hayouni said, according to Arabi21, adding that the security operation near the Algerian border was coordinated between security units and the national army.

Read more: How Islamic State is undermining Tunisia's impressive but fragile gains from the Arab Spring

Tunisia, whose 2011 revolt toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring uprisings, has been hailed as a model of democratisation in the Arab world, but has faced economic woes and jihadi attacks.

In March 2015, gunmen killed 21 tourists and a policeman at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis.

In June that year, 30 Britons were among 38 foreign holidaymakers killed in a gun and grenade attack on a beach resort near the Tunisian city of Sousse.

And in November 2015, a suicide bombing against a bus carrying presidential guards killed 12, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

The country is due to hold a presidential election on Sept. 15, just two months after the death of former president and country's first democratically-elected leader Beji Caid Essebsi.

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