Tunisia fears new ‘terrorist attacks’: PM

Tunisia fears more potentially destabilising “terrorist attacks,” like the one that killed 38 foreign tourists last month, which is why it has imposed a state of emergency, the premier said Wednesday. Eight days after the June 26 shootings at the Mediterranean resort of Port El Kantaoui, President Beji Caid Essebsi decreed on Saturday a state of emergency for 30 days. The rampage by a Tunisian student killed 30 Britons, three Irish nationals, two Germans, one Belgian, one Portuguese and a Russian, and was claimed by the Islamic State group.

We are engaged in a ferocious war against terrorism to protect lives and property, defend the republican regime… the civil state and its institutions.

Prime Minister Habib Essid told parliament

Prime Minister Habib Essid spoke as rights groups warned the state of emergency should not suppress freedoms gained since the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. But while saying “whatever it takes, we will prevail over terrorism,” this would not come at the expense of human rights. These will “not be touched,” he said. Meanwhile, Tunisia will complete construction of a barrier along the Libyan border, from Ras Jedir on the Mediterranean coast to Dhiba, 115 miles to the southwest, a defence ministry official said. The barrier, which will include berms and trenches, was announced after a terrorist attack on the national museum in Tunis in March killed 22 people, mostly tourists.

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