Tunisia hunting ‘armed groups’ near Algeria border

Tunis. Tunisian security forces were on Thursday hunting two armed jihadist groups near the Algerian border, the interior ministry said, as the authorities battle an Islamist threat that has grown increasingly dangerous.“There are two groups, one of about 15 to 20 people in Mount Chaambi... Another group is in the Kef region near the Algerian border,” ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said.“There are no (direct) clashes taking place. We are combing the region with guns,” he added.A security source said on Wednesday that troops clashed with around 50 armed Algerian and Tunisian jihadists in the Chaambi region, which is completely surrounded by the army.Tunisian forces have been hunting for the group holed up in the mountainous western region since Monday. The authorities have described them only as “terrorists.”In the operation to flush them out, around 15 soldiers and members of the national guard have already been wounded, some seriously, by homemade landmines laid by the gunmen.The defence ministry said the army had the situation along the border “under control” but was unable to give more details about those targeted in the operation, or about the second group in the Kef region, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the north.“We can’t give more information for security reasons,” Colonel Mokhtar Ben Naceur told Tunisian radio, adding that it was “a difficult region and the hunt continues.”Earlier he admitted he had “no idea” about the number of people the security forces were pursuing, or about the second group in the Kef region, and said no one had yet been arrested.Asked about cooperation with Algeria, the colonel said that Tunisia’s neighbour was helping but only at the level of intelligence-sharing.“There is no joint action on the ground,” he said.