45 killed in Tunisia clashes near Libyan border
Date
3/7/2016 12:20:09 PM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) At least 45 people were killed Monday in deadly clashes between Tunisian security forces and militants in eastern Tunisia near border with war-torn Libya.
Armed militants attacked an army barracks and security posts at dawn in the eastern town of Ben Guerdane near the Libyan border triggering a firefight with security forces.
Twenty-eight "terrorists" were killed and seven other arrested in the attack the defense and interior ministries said in a joint statement.
Ten members of the security forces and seven civilians were also killed in the clashes the statement said.
According to the statement border crossings between Libya and Tunisia were shut and a manhunt was underway to nab the attackers.
The two ministries went on to call on residents of the town “to remain at home”.
Earlier Monday Tunisian authorities imposed a night-time curfew from 1900 (1800 GMT) to 0500 local time (0400 GMT) in Ben Guerdane following the militant attacks.
Last week Tunisian authorities said that five militants had been killed and a cache of weapons seized in Ben Guerdane.
In November at least 13 presidential guards were killed in a suicide bombing in capital Tunis in an attack claimed by Daesh militant group.
Following the attack Tunisian authorities declared a 30-day countrywide state of emergency along with a curfew in the capital and in three other provinces.
In an attempt to stop militants’ infiltration into its territories Tunisia has built a 200-km barrier along border with Libya which has fallen into a civil war since the 2011 ouster and death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
By Aymen Cemli
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