Five suspected jihadists were killed on Monday in an operation by Tunisian forces in Mount Chaambi, one of the country's main jihadist maquis, bordering Algeria, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said.
Read also: Tunisia plagued by the demon of terrorism
"
Based on detailed technical intelligence
," the Interior Ministry forces and military ground and air units "
eliminated five terrorist elements,
" the ministry said in a statement. "
The operation launched at dawn on Monday
" is "
still in progress,
" National Guard spokesman Houssemeddine Jebabli told AFP, specifying that the nationality of these five men and their affiliation to a group were being verified.
Since 2012, the Tunisian army has been chasing armed groups in the mountain ranges of the center-west of the country, including elements of the Okba Ibn Nafaa phalanx, a local branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and Jund al-Khilafa, a group affiliated with the Islamic State organization. It was at Mount Chaambi that the worst attack against the army took place in 2014 (15 soldiers killed), the starting point of a black series of deadly attacks. After the 2011 revolution, Tunisia was faced with a boom in the jihadist movement, in particular in the border regions of Algeria and Libya.
The security situation has improved significantly in recent years, but recurring attacks continue to target security forces, and the state of emergency has been in effect since a series of deadly attacks in 2015. Last month, three Suspected jihadists, including a woman who set off an explosive belt, were killed in security force operations in a nearby mountain range, Mount Mghila. In early February, four Tunisian soldiers died in a mine explosion during a search operation in the same area.
