Tunisia’s ministry foils terrorist attack
TUNIS: Tunisia’s interior ministry said on Saturday that security forces had foiled a planned terrorist atack and arrested a female extremist suspected of involvement.
In a statement, the ministry said investigators believed the woman had planned to kidnap the children of some members of the security forces and the military to try to force the release of people convicted of terrorist offences.
She was also suspected of planning to atack a security facility using an explosive belt.
The North African nation has been under a state of emergency since 2015 ater an atack in which several presidential guards were killed.
A Tunisian court sentenced 16 people to death in the first judgements against extremists involved in 2016 atacks near the Libyan border that let scores dead, media reported on Saturday.
A total of 96 people stand accused in the trial relating to the March 2016 events that saw the town of Ben Guerdane become the stage of a bloody batle as members of the Daesh’s Libya branch staged a series of deadly atacks.
The court specialised in terrorism offences handed 16 of the defendants Tunisia’s toughest sentence, though the country has imposed a moratorium on capital punishment since 1991.
The remaining defendants were handed sentences ranging from four years to life in prison, though a small but unspecified number of defendants were acquited, the reports said. The prosecution said it would appeal. Following the atacks in Ben Guerdane, the Tunisian authorities said they had thwarted an atempt by the Daesh to establish a foothold within the country.
The atacks killed 13 members of the security forces and seven civilians. In addition, 55 atackers were also killed.
Following the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia saw a surge in militant atacks across the country.
Many Tunisians also travelled to Syria or Iraq to join the Daesh or other extremists.
The security situation has greatly improved in recent years, but Tunisian forces continue to hunt suspected militants in parts of the country.