Tunisia lifts night curfew in Ben Guerdane

Tunisia government has announced the lifting of the night curfew which had been on since March 7 in the region near the Libyan border, after a jihadist attack.

In a brief statement published on its official Facebook page, the Ministry of Interior announced the lifting of the curfew “from Wednesday” in the city south of the country.

The curfew was announced on March 7 in Ben Guerdane from 7 pm to 5 am in the aftermath of a foiled terrorist attack on the police and National Guard posts and the army barracks.

#Tunisia: The Ministry of Interior announced yesterday April 20 the lifting of the curfew in #BenGuerdane pic.twitter.com/qZQbaIeLbe

— MENASTREAM (@MENASTREAM) April 21, 2016

The attack was carried out by dozens of heavily armed jihadists on a security service building in the region. The curfew had been reduced on two occasions as a result of an improved security situation in the region.

The Ministry of Interior had reduced the curfew by three hours, to run from 10pm to 5am, adding that only night workers and medical emergencies were exempted.

According to an official report, thirteen members of the forces and seven civilians had died, while 55 “terrorists” had been killed in the course of the attacks.

No group has taken responsibility for the attack, but the Tunisian government said it suspects “emirate” an extremist Islamist group in the region.

Tunisia, has several thousands of nationals in the jihadists in Iraq.

Syria and Libya, are also under a state of emergency.

AFP