16:14 – Tunisia pays tribute to six policemen killed in jihadist attack

Tunisia paid tribute on Monday to six members of the security forces killed the day before in the west of the country, during the bloodiest jihadist operation since the series of attacks in 2015 and early 2016, claimed by Al -Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi).

After a ceremony at a National Guard base near Tunis, several were buried in the presence of hundreds of people.

In Douar Hicher, a popular suburb of Tunis where police regularly announce arrests of extremists, the body of a young police officer, Arbi Guizeni, was accompanied by a large cortege, at the head of which were members of the security forces in hoods and weapons in hand. In the house he was building, his widowed mother collapsed on the coffin of his son, the mainstay of this very modest family.

The six National Guard agents were killed, and three others wounded, when their cars were attacked Sunday morning with an improvised explosive device near the border with Algeria, in the sector of Ain Sultan, in the governorate of Jendouba.

The three policemen wounded, transferred to the military hospital of Tunis, are "in a stable state", indicated Monday morning the spokesman of the National Guard, colonel Houssemeddine Jebabli.

He specified that the operations of search launched Sunday with the army were continued, but no arrests were made.

The Tunisian branch of the Aqmi jihadist group, Okba ibn Nafaa, claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed to have seized several weapons, according to the US jihadist site monitoring center. SITE.

Aqmi and Jund al-Khilafa, affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group, are located in this mountainous border area.

– Political Crisis –

This attack risks exacerbating the deep political crisis crossing Tunisia, where Prime Minister Youssef Chahed is facing an offensive within his own camp.

"We are going to avenge our heroes," said Chahed, while stressing that "the security situation is under control. "

" The war against terrorism (…) requires the strengthening of the military institution far from narrow calculations, "said his party, Nidaa Tounes, in a statement signed by Youssef Chahed's main rival, Hafedh Caid Essebsi, the son of the President of the Republic

M. Chahed recently fired the Minister of the Interior and dozens of ministry officials were dismissed without any specific explanation.

In Sidi Bouzid, in central Tunisia, dozens of police demonstrated to demand more resources , according to an AFP correspondent

There are regular clashes on the Algerian border, but this is the first time in more than two years that the police force has suffered such losses.

The last A major attack in Tunisia dates back to March 2016, when jihadists launched coordinated operations against security facilities in Ben Guerdane, near Libya, killing 13 law enforcement personnel and seven civilians. [19659002] – "Global Strategy" –

Although perpetrated in a mountainous area, far from the tourist coast, this attack comes in a sensitive moment for this country which was the pioneer Arab Spring in 2011.

Struck by a series of deadly jihadist attacks, notably at the Bardo museum in Tunis and a seaside resort in 2015, Tunisia has relied heavily on the lull of the past two years to revive tourism, vital lung of its economy

Even if the security situation has improved significantly, the country remains under a state of emergency since the suicide bombing in Tunis against the presidential security (12 agents killed), in November 2015.

According to researcher Matt Herbert, it is in the northwestern maquis that the most members of the police force have perished since the revolution, with a death toll of 118. [19659022] The country keeps in mind the death of 15 soldiers in July 2014 in a jihadist attack on Mount Chaambi.

That of Sunday "shows that there are still pockets where security problems have not been solved", told AFP Mr. Herbert. He called for "a comprehensive strategy (…) to solve the economic and governance problems that these groups exploit."