Tunisia: Dozens of Extremists Arrested in Latest Raids
Local Editor
The Tunisian government said Thursday that 37 suspects, including several extremists linked to Daesh terrorist group, had been arrested in the security operations carried out the previous day.
Two "dangerous and wanted terrorists" were killed during the raid Wednesday in Mnihla near the capital, while 16 suspected extremists were arrested, the interior ministry said Thursday.
Another 21 other suspects were arrested in raids that followed, the ministry added.
All those arrested were members of "terrorist cells operating across [Tunisian] territory".
"They have been monitored and followed by the national guard for more than four months," the statement said.
In a deadly confrontation that erupted during one of the raids in the Tataouine governorate, four policemen were killed when a militant detonated his explosives belt after a firefight erupted.
The men arrested in the raids had all been trained in the use of firearms, the ministry said.
"They were preparing to gather in Tunis to attack vital, sensitive targets in the capital and the rest of the country, as well as security positions and agents," it said.
The suspects had been planning bomb and "suicide attacks", it added.
Some of those arrested were "implicated in the terrorist acts that hit the Bardo Museum, the Imperial hotel at Sousse, the presidential guard's bus and most recently Ben Guerdane," the statement said.
Ben Guerdane, one of the North African nation's poorest towns, was the target of an extremist assault that killed seven civilians and 13 security personnel in March as well as 55 extremists.
"They were also active elements of the terrorist groups in the Tunisian mountains... and had links with Tunisian members of... Daesh in Libya, Syria and Iraq," the statement said.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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