Following warnings of possible car bombings last month, Tunisian security forces recently intercepted two car bombs on the country’s border with Libya. According to officials, the intercepted vehicles carried documents bearing the Islamic State’s symbol.
Experts have said that ISIS has taken advantage of the chaos in Libya to establish a greater foothold in North Africa.
Speaking during an interview, Michael Ayari, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the most worrying challenge is the lack of security strategy in Tunisia
“It is not just the size of the threat, to say there’s a threat, it is how to address it exactly, how to adopt a strategy. The problem is that in Tunisia currently we do not think that there’s a medium- and long-term strategy. I think that there are reactions day to day to threats, there is a lot of panic,”
The Tunisian government has stepped up security efforts to counter the operations of the sect by joining the US-led coalition against the militant group. Prime Minister Habib Essid , while addressing the UN General Assembly said:
“The rapid and successive changes our region has witnessed in the last few years has resulted in a growing threat from terrorism in the security and stability of several countries, including Tunisia,”