TUNIS – Tunisian Interior Minister, Lotfi Jeddou, on Monday said Tunisian authorities have foiled planned attacks by militants on foreign diplomats and economic installations.
“Many planned terrorist assassinations and car bombings, targeting ambassadors and factories, have been thwarted by pre-emptive security operations,’’ the official said, without elaborating.
His remarks were made days after the Interior Ministry said it had dismantled several networks linked to the banned Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, purportedly planning to carry out attacks in the run-up to next week’s parliamentary elections.
Jeddou said that no fewer than 46,000 members of the security forces would be deployed to guard polling stations and state institutions across the country on polling day.
The elections on Oct. 26 are a major step in the process of democratisation in Tunisia, the birthplace from late 2010 of the Arab Spring uprisings.
The Tunisian government has in recent weeks stepped up an anti-terrorism campaign against insurgents believed to be linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. (dpa/NAN)
