Militants and Tunisian forces clash in border town leaving 16 dead

Islamist fighters attacked army and police posts in the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdane near the border with Libya early on Monday, in clashes that left at least ten militants, five civilians and one soldier dead. The interior ministry warned people to stay in their homes as gunfire erupted in the centre of town. Islamist militants trained in jihadist camps across the border in Libya carried out several attacks on Tunisia last year, including the attacks on the Tunis Bardo museum and a Sousse beach hotel targetting foreign tourists.

Tunisia has built a fence along the border with Libya but that doesn’t seem to stop the movement of armed attackers coming in from Libya and targeting the army and security forces.

Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri

Hospital official Abdelkrim Sakroud said on state radio that three corpses had been brought to the hospital, including that of a 12-year-old girl. The Tunisian military sent reinforcements and helicopters to the area around Ben Guerdane and authorities are hunting several attackers who are at large.

Ben Gardane