Tunisia Finds Bomb-Making Material in Extremist Hideout
Tunisian counter-terrorism units have recently
detonated three landmines set to target security and military convoys pursuing
extremists in the western mountainous region.
Tunisian military sources noted that the units have
discovered a camp used by terrorists as a hideout in Arbata mountain in the
southwestern province of Gafsa, where they found bomb-making material.
The mountainous area has been the scene of armed
confrontations between Tunisian armed forces and a terrorist group led by
Mourad Gharsalli
The clashes ended on July 10, 2015 when Gharsalli
and other terrorists were killed.
Tunisia's Interior Ministry has confirmed that the
extremist network found at the camp included six members, but said that there
could be a total of 20 terrorists in the mountainous region.
Security officials, who took part in the latest raid
on Arbata, affirmed that top terrorists such as Hatem Basdouri and Usama
al-Ghazri, were among extremists entrenched in the mountains.
Both have separately joined Uqba Ibn Nafi Battalion
– affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - before joining Jund
al-Khalifa, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS.
