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| Africa North |
| Tunisia cracks down on Ansar al-Sharia |
| 2014-04-12 |
| [Maghrebia] Tunisian security forces and salafists clashed again Thursday (April 10th) in Siliana. Several officers were maimed Wednesday when dozens of Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, with the Libyan and Tunisian versions currently most active... members tried to storm the Rouhia cop shoppe. The violence arose a day after security forces raided a local mosque and tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! 40 salafists, including several recent returnees from jihad in Syria. "We've seen days of festivities, during which we breathed a lot of tear gas which the security forces used to disperse the bad boy protestors," local resident Lamjed Rezki told Magharebia. "We have provided the necessary support to the security forces because we reject the presence of those elements in the town," Rezki added. According to security expert Tarek Sliti, "what's happening in Rouhia was made up by the leaders of those groups to relieve pressures by security and army forces in Jebel Chaambi". He confirmed that the bombardment of gunnies holed up in the remote border region had been relentless, and that their bad boy allies across Tunisia were clearly confused. "What we're seeing in Rouhia, Ben Guerdane, and more recently in Sfax, are attempts to distract the security and army forces," he added. Tunisian security forces are racking up a string of wins against Ansar al-Sharia terrorists. On Sunday, the interior ministry announced that an eight-member Ansar al-Sharia cell had been dismantled in Sfax. Two gunnies were maimed after accidentally detonating a home-made bomb. Authorities seized a large amount of bombs during the April 6th operation. "The bad boy group that was arrested in Sfax was planning to target vital facilities, such as a shopping mall, military barracks and hospital in the area," Interior Ministry Spokesman Mohammed Ali Laroui said told Jawhara FM. A day before the Sfax incident, Gabes counter-terrorist units raided a house. Two students and their professor were arrested in connection with Ansar al-Sharia activity. "I don't think that Death Eaters will find any popular sympathy," analyst Mondher al-Mouelhi told Magharebia. "They're losing the field they had won after the January 2011 revolution," he added. "After they turned to violence and were involved in liquidations, they lost all popular support." "Media forums had been hosting them almost every day, but when they were designated a terrorist group, they lost such a venue," al-Mouelhi said. Last August, Tunisia officially designated Ansar al-Sharia as a terrorist organization tied to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). "This will lead to certain consequences on the security, justice and media levels, and also on the international co-operation level," former Prime Minister Ali Larayedh said at the time. The group has been linked to the massacre of soldiers in Jebel Chaambi, and the murders of opposition politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohammed Brahmi. The group's leader, Seif Allah ben Hassine (aka Abou Iyadh), has not been seen in months. |
| Posted by:Fred |