The interior minister of Tunisia said on Thursday, that the country’s security services have detained a terrorist from among the leaders of the Al-Qaeda terror group banned in Russia.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said “As part of a nationwide effort to combat terrorism and prevent terrorist attacks … a dangerous terrorist, one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda terror group in Tunisia, has been detained,”.
According to the statement, the detained militant “previously carried out leadership tasks with the same organization in one of the flashpoints of tension and was linked to the elements of the so-called Uqba Ibn Nafi brigade holed up in the Tunisian mountains.”
Earlier last month, the state of emergency which was already in place in the country was extended by the Tunisian President Kais Said for six months in connection with terrorist threats.
The state of emergency in Tunisia was introduced in 2015 after a continuous wave of terrorist attacks, since then the curfew has been extended regularly.
In June of 2015, 40 people were killed in a terrorist attack which took place in the resort of El Kantaoui in Sousse province. In November of the same year, a suicide bomber attacked the presidential guard in the Tunisian capital Tunis.
In the aftermath of these events, the authorities have further tightened security measures within the country, which have allowed it, in particular, to restorethe flow of tourists from abroad to the North African country.
Tourism is one of the major revenue generating sources for the Tunisia.