6 members of security forces killed in "terrorist" attack

Six members of Tunisia's security forces were killed on Sunday in a "terrorist" attack in northwestern Tunisia, the Interior Ministry said, lowering its balance sheet. This is the deadliest attack for over two years. A mine has exploded, "killing six agents" of the National Guard near the border with Algeria, in the area of ​​Ain Sultan, in the province of Jendouba, said the ministry, which states that the attack took place at 11:45 am (10.45 GMT)

A spokesman for the ministry, General Sofiene al-Zaq, who initially reported eight dead, described the attack as "terrorist." He added that attackers "opened fire on the security forces" after the explosion of the mine. "Terrorist search operations" are under way, according to him. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The last attack dates back to March 2016

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Clashes regularly occur at the Algerian border, but this is the first time in two years that the forces of the order wipe out such losses. The latest major attack in the country dates back to March 2016, when jihadists launched coordinated operations against security facilities in Ben Guerdane, near the border with Libya, killing 13 law enforcement officers and seven civilians. Last April, a soldier was shot dead in clashes with armed Islamists in the mountainous region of Kbaderine (center-west). In March, a man had unleashed his explosive charge while being pursued by police in the Ben Guerdane region.

After its revolution in 2011, Tunisia was confronted with a rise in the jihadist movement, responsible for the deaths of dozens of soldiers and police, but also civilians and foreign tourists. Although 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. The authorities call for vigilance. Security forces and observers believe that the main active armed groups, the Okba ibn Nafaa phalanx, al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) branch, and Jund al Khaifa, affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group, are currently very weak and destructured. But isolated incidents continue.

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