Tunis: Tunisia on Tuesday extended by three months a state of emergency imposed after a November suicide bombing claimed by the Daesh terror group that killed 12 presidential guards.
President Beji Qaid Al Sebsi “has decided after consultations ... to extend the state of emergency for a period of three months from March 23,” his office said in a statement that came two weeks after another attack blamed on terrorists near the border with Libya.
This month’s attack on police and army posts in the town of Ben Guerdane left seven civilians and 13 security personnel dead. Forty-nine terrorists have been killed by security forces in clashes immediately following the attacks and in subsequent raids.
The North African country has suffered from a wave of terror attacks in recent years, as it has struggled to curb a rise in extremism since the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime dictator Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali.
Last year Daesh claimed responsibility for attacks on the Bardo museum in Tunis and a popular resort hotel that killed 59 tourists in total, as well as the suicide bombing that killed the presidential guards.
The state of emergency has been repeatedly extended since November. The last extension, on February 22, was for a period of one month.
Tunisia was on Tuesday hosting talks with other countries neighbouring Libya on the threat posed by the growing Daesh presence in the lawless North African nation.
