
The Interior ministry of Tunisia said in an official statement on Wednesday that they have dismantled a terrorist cell linked to ISIS. According to the statement, the units from the Anti-Terrorism department at Tunisia’s National Guard broke up militants who were linked to an extremist group that had earlier pledged allegiance to ISIS in the southern Tunisian city of Tataouine.
The statement from the interior ministry also stated that the Tunisian authorities believed that the cell was planning attacks with explosives and was trying to recruit young people.
“The cell included six members and is active in the Tataouine region led by a Takfiri (extremist) fighter. Its fighters had pledged allegiance to the leader of the so-called ISIS terrorist group. They deliberately attracted a group of young men to adopt the Takfiri ideology and also planned to manufacture explosive materials,” the statement read.
In the last year, there have been a number of reports regarding militants close to ISIS planning terror attacks in Tunisia. According to a recent report by Reuters, it is estimated that more than 3,000 Tunisians have joined the war in Syria and Iraq fighting on the side of the Islamic State.
The Tunisian army has been battling armed extremist groups since 2012 in the country’s central mountains and according to the reports, they include fighters from Jund al-Khalifa, or “Soldiers of the Caliphate”, linked to the ISIS group and jihadists from Okba Ibn Nafaa.
In 2015, assailants killed 15 soldiers on Mount Chaambi and in February this year, ISIS claimed responsibility for the death of four soldiers in the three blasts near Mount Mghila.