Tunisia closes its borders after ISIS claims responsibility for attack
World
Tunisia closes its borders after ISIS claims responsibility for attack
A day after a deadly suicide bus bombing in Tunisia, claimed by the Islamic State, authorities said they are closing the country’s border with Libya, a hotbed of Islamist unrest. Tuesday’s blast, which left 12 presidential guards dead, rattled the country after a particularly violent year and signaled that ISIS has extended its reach well beyond its base in Syria and Iraq. Today, Tunisian authorities discovered the body of a 13th person in the bus, believed to be the terrorist.
This attack is an evolution in the behavior of the terrorists. This time they attacked a symbol of the state and in the heart of the capital.
Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid
Earlier this year, the country suffered two major attacks by Islamic extremists who targeted tourist sites. The government declared the blast a terrorist attack and imposed a 30-day nationwide state of emergency, less than two months after a previous one had been lifted. It also announced Tunisia would recruit more interior ministry agents and soldiers next year and “step up operations to block [Internet] sites linked to terrorism,” citing that thousands of Tunisians have traveled to Libya, as well as to Iraq and Syria, to fight alongside Islamic extremists.
