Curfew in place in capital Tunis where attack on vehicle carrying presidential guards near French embassy leaves at least dozen people dead

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Tunisia’s president has declared a state of emergency throughout the country and a curfew in the capital after an attack on a bus carrying his presidential guard killed at least 12 people.

Beji Caid Essebsi, who was not on the bus when it was hit by an explosion on Tuesday in the centre of Tunis, said in a televised address the country was at war against terrorism and called for international cooperation against extremists who have staged attacks across the world in recent weeks. “I want to reassure the Tunisian people that we will vanquish terrorism,” he added.

The bomb exploded shortly before 5pm on Avenue Mohamed V, near the 7 November clock tower, a city landmark.

One witness said the target was parked on the street close to Avenue Habib Bourguiba, where the heavily guarded interior ministry and French embassy are based. The ministry said 16 people were wounded.

Tunisia ill-prepared to tackle homegrown threat as jihadi tide turns Read more

The area was cordoned off by police and emergency vehicles. The bombing, the first in the Tunisian capital this year, comes as the country is on high alert against attacks by Islamic State.

In June, 38 tourists were killed by a gunman at the Sousse beach resort. That attack, which followed the killing of 21 people by two gunmen at the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March, led to most tourists leaving the country and the government imposing a state of emergency.

Earlier this month, a group allied to Isis claimed responsibility for the murder of a 16-year-old shepherd, Mabrouk Soltani, in the southern Jebel Mghila mountains. A video posted bythe Jund al-Khilafa group claimed the teenager was an army informer.

Last week, Tunisia said it had broken a terrorist network, making 17 arrests and foiling a campaign of “major attacks” that militants had been planning for this month, aimed at the Sousse resort as well as politicians, security targets and landmarks.

The twin tourist attacks in spring and summer combined with Tuesday’s bomb have shaken confidence in the small north African state. The state of emergency declared after the Sousse killings and only recently lifted has been reinstated.

The bomb attack, hitting the commercial centre of Tunis, close to banks and hotels, is a further blow to security forces as they attempt to battle Islamic fundamentalists.

Fresh militant attacks had been predicted, with analysts saying there has been an increase in Isis internet traffic in recent months, with jihadi targeting what is North Africa’s only full democracy.

Next month, Tunisia will mark five years since the start of its Arab spring revolution that resulted in the ousting of dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. But while democracy appears entrenched after two series of successful elections, security is in crisis, as the country reaps the fallout of Islamic fundamentalism in one neighbour, Algeria, and full-scale civil war in the other, Libya.

Tunis says the Bardo and Sousse attackers were trained at the western Libyan Isis headquarters at Sabratha, 60 miles from the border. Tunisia’s small cash-strapped army struggles to police the mountainous infiltration routes used by militant organisations.

Diplomats say the recent awarding of the Nobel peace prize to the national dialogue quartet, a civil alliance credited with keeping Tunisia’s democracy on the road, has raised the country’s profile in the west.

The European Union is expected to announce an enhanced aid programme later this year and the United States has promised to quadruple security aid, but this brings little comfort to Tunisians wondering how to combat an ever-bolder insurgency.



