Tunisia: Security forces foil terrorist plans led by women’s cell – Details

The competent security authorities in Tunisia were able to uncover a female takfiri cell composed of four undisclosed female elements in the field of religious extremism, residing in the governorates of Sousse and Kairouan. According to initial investigations, all members of the terrorist cell communicate in closed groups through social media accounts. They engage in takfiri fatwas for religious extremists inside and outside the country, and they communicate with foreign accounts of terrorist elements in hotbeds of tension. The public prosecutor’s office authorized their retention and the inclusion of a fifth person for inspection.

Planned abort

Two days ago, the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior revealed that it had thwarted a terrorist plan to target a security patrol in the coastal city of Sousse with a remote-controlled explosive device. The Ministry continued that the main element of this operation was “arrested” and that he had confessed his allegiance to the terrorist organization and its activities through one of its media arms. Prior to this, the Tunisian authorities announced the dismantling of a terrorist cell in the north of the country, consisting of seven people, three of whom were not known by the security authorities. Local observers consider that the remote-controlled terrorist bombing plan poses a serious threat to State institutions and the local population, and aims to re-mix the cards and return the country to a period of terrorist activity, especially in the years 2013, 2014 and 215, in the highlands of Tunisia, which witnessed the fall of the dead and wounded in the capital, and the city of the capital Tunisian capital to the border with Algeria.

Counterterrorism

In the same context, Tunisian security forces arrested a Takfiri who is active in the media wing of ISIS, and dismantled a female terrorist cell, according to a statement by the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior. The ministry said that the units of the Counter-Terrorism Department were able to uncover a takfiri element in the province of Bizerte, in the north of the country, that is active in the media wing of the terrorist organization “ISIS” by promoting its ideas through virtual space, with the aim of attracting as many youth as possible. 

The Ministry of the Interior confirmed that, by referring it to the Public Prosecution Service in the anti-terrorism judicial branch, it had issued a prison deposit card in this regard. In a related context, the same units, in cooperation with the Prevention and Counter-Terrorism Department of the Intelligence and Security Agency for National Defense, were able to uncover a female cell active between the governorates of Kef and Tozeur in the field of recruiting women via virtual space in connection with terrorist elements of the so-called “Caliphate Soldiers” fortified in the mountains of Tunisia. By referring them to the public prosecution in the anti-terrorism judicial sector, deposit cards were issued in their regard.

Parliamentary elections

Tunisians are expecting the holding of premature parliamentary elections next December, as the latest of the road map measures announced by President Kais Saied after the dissolution of parliament and the referendum on the constitution. Opposition parties, led by the Muslim Brotherhood Ennahdha, are boycotting the elections and trying to mobilize the street to confront what they consider a “coup”. 

Serious fears are raised in Tunisia about the return of the country to the square of violence and terrorism, especially that the region is facing a state of insecurity, especially in the Sahel region, in spite of the successes achieved by the country in confronting militant groups, and despite the uprooting of a large number of sleeper cells and the thwarting of many terrorist plots. However, the situation still requires extreme caution.