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Clash at Tunisian Military Barracks Near Libya Kills Dozens Tunisian Clash Spreads Fear That Libyan War Is Spilling Over
(about 5 hours later)
TUNIS — Dozens of militants stormed through a town in eastern Tunisia early Monday morning, attacking police and military posts and starting a firefight with security forces that left at least 53 people dead. TUNIS — Fear engulfed Tunisia on Monday that Islamic State mayhem was spilling over from neighboring Libya, as dozens of militants stormed a Tunisian town near the border, assaulting police and military posts in what the president called an unprecedented attack.
The clashes at Ben Gardane, 18 miles from the border with Libya, were the second in the district in a week and came at a time of growing concern that the war in Libya, where the Islamic State has aggressively expanded, was spilling into Tunisia. At least 54 people were killed in the fighting in the town, Ben Gardane, which erupted at dawn and lasted for hours until the security forces chased out what remained of the assailants. An enormous stash of weapons was later found.
The assault started just after 5 a.m. with coordinated attacks on a military barracks, a national guard station and a police station , according to the Defense and Interior Ministries. The confrontation spilled into the streets, where security forces pursued and opened fire on attackers. The authorities said at least 36 militants were among the dead. The others were a mix of security forces and civilians, including a 12-year-old girl.
Several times the authorities raised the estimated death toll; by midafternoon it stood at 53. The dead included 35 militants, 10 security agents, one soldier and seven civilians. It was unclear precisely where the assailants had come from, although some witnesses reported that they had local accents and had pronounced themselves as liberators. But President Beji Caid Essebsi of Tunisia, increasingly alarmed about the Islamic State’s expansion in Libya, blamed the militant group. In a televised address, he suggested that the motive was to create a new Islamic State territory on Tunisian soil, similar to the 150-mile stretch it controls in Libya.
“On this painful occasion, I would like to address the Tunisian people to say that today there was an attack against our units — military, national guard and security units — in Ben Gardane at 5 a.m.,” President Beji Caid Essebsi said in a televised address. “This is an unprecedented attack. It is well organized and coordinated. The motive behind it is probably to take control over the region, and to announce a new wilayat.” The authorities sealed the border, erected checkpoints in Ben Gardane and used bullhorns to announce a curfew as security officials searched for other attackers. A nearby beach resort popular with Western and local tourists was closed.
The wilayat, typically translated as a province or governorate, was part of the administrative structure of the Ottoman Empire, and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has used the term to refer to territory it controls. It was the second time in a week that the area around Ben Gardane had been assaulted, and the first time that Tunisian military facilities had been targeted.
Mr. Essebsi said that the Tunisian forces had anticipated an attack — though “probably” not one on this scale — and reacted vigilantly. Mr. Essebsi said that the Tunisian forces had expected such an attack. “Most Tunisians are in a state of war against this recklessness, against these rats,” he said, referring to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
“Most Tunisians are in a state of war against this recklessness, against these rats,” he said, referring to the Islamic State. In the past year, the Islamic State has exploited Libya’s chaotic civil war not only to establish control of coastline around the central town of Surt, but also to establish bases near the Tunisian border. Tunisian troops raised their alert after Feb. 18 when American airstrikes against an Islamic State camp in Sabratha, 60 miles from the border, stoked worries that some fighters would try to slip into Tunisia.
The authorities sealed the border with Libya, set up checkpoints in Ben Gardane and used bullhorns to urge residents to remain indoors as the authorities searched for other attackers. Considered a conspicuous success story among the countries upended by popular uprisings in 2011, Tunisia has of late steeled itself against a growing Islamist threat. In two high-profile attacks last year, militants targeted Western tourists at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, and at the beach resort of Sousse where they killed 38 people, mostly British tourists. Tunisian officials said the attackers had been trained in Libya.
Although officials did not identify the attackers, this was the first such assault to target a Tunisian military installation, and most suspicions pointed to militants based in Libya as being behind the raid. The American airstrikes last month against an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, which killed at least 43 people, had sought to eliminate a militant commander linked to the Tunis and Sousse assaults. He is believed to have been killed.
Last month, American warplanes killed at least 43 people in an attack on an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya, 60 miles from the border with Tunisia. The target of that airstrike was a militant commander linked to attacks on Western tourists at a museum and a beach resort in Tunisia last year.
American commanders say such strikes are part of an effort to contain the spread of the Islamic State while the United States and its allies consider a much wider campaign of airstrikes against the group in Libya.American commanders say such strikes are part of an effort to contain the spread of the Islamic State while the United States and its allies consider a much wider campaign of airstrikes against the group in Libya.
The United States has said that about 6,500 Islamist State fighters are in Libya, many of whom are originally from Tunisia. Although most of the fighters are based along a 150-mile stretch of coastline in northern Libya, others are based in towns like Sabratha, from where they can plot attacks across the region. In an effort to stop militant infiltration, Tunisia has built a 125-mile-long berm along half of the border with Libya, and says it has contracted American and German firms to install electronic surveillance equipment to further secure that border.
In an effort to stop militant infiltration, Tunisia has built a 125-mile-long berm along half of the border with Libya. Still, tensions are rising: On Wednesday, Tunisian soldiers killed five militants in a firefight near Ben Gardane. Still, tensions are rising. In violence that foreshadowed the Ben Gardane assault, Tunisian soldiers clashed with militants on Wednesday near the town, killing five people.
After the assault on Monday, the security forces said they had confiscated a large cache of weapons. The security forces also blocked nearby border crossing points at Ras Ajdir and on the island of Djerba, a tourist area that is home to a small population of Tunisian Jews. After the Ben Gardane assault, the Tunisian security forces said they had discovered a large cache of weapons including rifles, explosives and rocket launchers. They blocked nearby border crossing points at Ras Ajdir and on the island of Djerba, a beach resort home to a small population of Tunisian Jews.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry urged locals to remain indoors but assured them the situation was “under control.” In a statement, the Interior Ministry urged locals to remain indoors but assured them that the situation was “under control.”
Although militants had never targeted a military installation in Tunisia, 12 people died in a suicide attack on a bus carrying members of the presidential guard in Tunis in November.Although militants had never targeted a military installation in Tunisia, 12 people died in a suicide attack on a bus carrying members of the presidential guard in Tunis in November.