Tunisia: Security forces kill two militants in Kasserine August 9

Event

Two suspected terrorists, including a senior commander of the Okba Ibn Nafaa group, were killed during a raid in the Kasserine region on Wednesday, August 9, according to a statement by Tunisian security forces. The commander, identified as Mourad Chaieb, is the Algerian leader of Okba Ibn Nafaa.

Routine security operations are likely to continue in the Kasserine region over the coming weeks.

Context

Okba Ibn Nafaa primarily operates out of the Chaambi mountain range on the Algerian border and has carried out attacks on towns and checkpoints in the area. While the majority of its members have claimed allegiance to Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), some have split off to join Islamic State (IS) in the Sammama mountains.

The threat from terrorism, including kidnapping, in Tunisia is considered high. Two high profile terrorist attacks targeted tourist sites in 2015: the Bardo National Museum attack in Tunis in March 2015, resulting in the death of 21 people, mostly Europeans, and a mass shooting at the Sousse coastal resort in June 2015, with 38 people killed. IS has claimed both attacks. A number of militant Islamist groups are present in the country, particularly in mountainous regions in the northwest, including Katibat Uqba bin Nafir (affiliated with AQIM), Ansar al-Sharia Tunisia (AST), and IS-affiliated Jund al-Khilafah. These groups maintain a low-level insurgency, mostly targeting security forces within the western interior region, particularly the mountainous ranges of Kasserine, Kef, and Jendouba governorates.

A near-constant state of emergency has been in effect in Tunisia since June 2015, and was again extended by another month on May 16, 2017. According to estimates by the Ministry of the Interior, several thousand Tunisian nationals are currently fighting for IS and other armed groups in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, raising fears that they could return to Tunisia to perpetrate attacks.

Advice

Due to the terrorist threat, individuals in Tunisia are advised to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious objects or behavior to the authorities, particularly when visiting sites deemed particularly likely to be targeted in an attack (public transportation, train stations, ports, airports, public or government buildings, embassies or consulates, international organizations, schools and universities, religious sites, markets, hotels and restaurants frequented by foreigners/Westerners, festivals, etc.). Certain Western governments advise against travel to the south of the country, e.g. regions on the borders with Algeria and Libya, and the Kasserine region, due to the presence of armed groups.