begin quote from:
Clash at Tunisian Military Barracks Near Libya Kills Dozens
| New York Times | - |
TUNIS
- Dozens of militants stormed through a town in eastern Tunisia early
Monday morning, attacking police and military posts and starting a
firefight with security forces that left at least 53 people dead.
Tunisia Police-Barracks Attack Aftermath
Militants attacked army and police barracks in the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdan near the Libyan border.
By REUTERS on Publish Date March 7, 2016.
Photo by Fathi Nasri/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
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TUNIS — Dozens of militants stormed through a town in eastern Tunisia
early Monday morning, attacking police and military posts and starting a
firefight with security forces that left at least 53 people dead.
The
clashes at Ben Gardane, 18 miles from the border with Libya, were the
second in the district in a week and came at a time of growing concern
that the war in Libya, where the Islamic State has aggressively
expanded, was spilling into Tunisia.
The
assault started just after 5 a.m. with coordinated attacks on a
military base and nearby police posts, the Defense and Interior
Ministries said in a joint statement.
The attacks resulted in a major battle with Tunisian security forces, which imposed a curfew as they hunted remaining militants.
Several
times the authorities raised the estimated death toll; by midafternoon
it stood at 53. The dead included 35 militants; the rest were security
officers or civilians, and at least one soldier.
“On
this painful occasion, I would like to address the Tunisian people to
say that today there was an attack against our units — military,
national guard and security units — in Ben Gardane at 5 a.m.,” President
Beji Caid Essebsi said in a televised address. “This is an
unprecedented attack. It is well organized and coordinated. The motive
behind it is probably to take control over the region, and to announce a
new wilayat.”
The
wilayat, typically translated as a province or governorate, was part of
the administrative structure of the Ottoman Empire, and the Islamic
State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has used the term to refer to territory it controls.
Mr.
Essebsi said that the Tunisian forces had anticipated an attack —
though “probably” not one on this scale — and reacted vigilantly.
“Most Tunisians are in a state of war against this recklessness, against these rats,” he said, referring to the Islamic State.
The
authorities sealed the border with Libya, set up checkpoints in Ben
Gardane and used bullhorns to urge residents to remain indoors as the
authorities searched for other attackers.
Although
officials did not identify the attackers, this was the first such
assault to target a Tunisian military installation, and most suspicions
pointed to militants based in Libya as being behind the raid.
Last month, American warplanes killed at least 43 people in an attack on an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya, 60 miles from the border with Tunisia. The target of that airstrike was a militant commander linked to attacks on Western tourists at a museum and a beach resort in Tunisia last year.
American
commanders say such strikes are part of an effort to contain the spread
of the Islamic State while the United States and its allies consider a
much wider campaign of airstrikes against the group in Libya.
The
United States has said that about 6,500 Islamist State fighters are in
Libya, many of whom are originally from Tunisia. Although most of the
fighters are based along a 150-mile stretch of coastline in northern
Libya, others are based in towns like Sabratha, from where they can plot
attacks across the region.
In
an effort to stop militant infiltration, Tunisia has built a
125-mile-long berm along half of the border with Libya. Still, tensions
are rising: On Wednesday, Tunisian soldiers killed five militants in a
firefight near Ben Gardane.
After
the assault on Monday, the security forces said they had confiscated a
large cache of weapons. The security forces also blocked nearby border
crossing points at Ras Ajdir and on the island of Djerba, a tourist area
that is home to a small population of Tunisian Jews.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry urged locals to remain indoors but assured them the situation was “under control.”
Although militants had never targeted a military installation in Tunisia, 12 people died in a suicide attack on a bus carrying members of the presidential guard in Tunis in November.
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