Tunisian police break cell linked to Islamic State

A cell recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Libya and Syria, has been dismantled by Tunisian police.

The cell is said to have been operating in Birzete a coastal town in the nothern part of the country.

“Our special forces counter-terrorism unit dismantled a cell which included nine extremists in Bizerte who were actively recruiting young people to send them into areas of trouble,” the interior ministry said.

Since November, Tunisia has been under a state of emergency after a suicide bomber killed 12 presidential guards on a bus in the capital Tunis.

That followed major gun attacks targeting foreign tourists at a Tunis museum and a beach hotel, both of which were claimed by Islamic State.

The attacks carried out in the Sousse and Bardo museum last year were perpetrated by Tunisian nationals who had trained in Libya.

It is estimated that several thousand Tunisians are fighting with Islamic State and other groups in Iraq and Syria.

The north African country which has been a haven of stability since its 2011 revolt against former president Zine Abidine Ben Ali, is increasingly being challenged by Islamist militants, who have hit security check points as well as carried out major attacks.