Gunmen apparently crossing from Libya attacked a Tunisian border garrison on Monday, officials said, raising worries about Islamic State fighters and other militants gaining greater footholds in North Africa. More than 45 people were killed in the clashes.
The assault followed skirmishes in the region last week between Tunisian forces and well-armed militiamen also believed to be based in Libya, where the Islamic State has expanded its presence amid political chaos that has divided the country into two rival zones.
Tunisian forces have been on elevated alert for possible cross-border incursions since a U.S. airstrike Feb. 19 targeting a suspected Islamic State training camp outside the Libyan town of Sabratha, near the Tunisian frontier.
A statement by Tunisia’s interior ministry said 28 “terrorists” were killed in Monday’s fighting and seven were captured, but did not give further details on their possible affiliation. Also killed were six members of Tunisia’s security forces and seven civilians, including a 12-year-old girl.
Tunisian officials closed border crossings hours after the predawn attack on the compound in Ben Guerdan, used by police and soldiers. In Paris, France’s foreign ministry identified the gunmen as “coming from Libyan territory.”
The Islamic State is among a host of armed factions in Libya, but its attempts to expand its hold has drawn increasing alarm from the West and neighbors such as by Tunisia — which faced two major attacks last year on tourist sites. Last month, Obama urged greater efforts to keep the Islamic State from “digging in” across Libya.
In the U.S. airstrike, a key target was a Tunisian militant, Noureddine Chouchane, who helped train fighters for last year’s attacks in Tunisia, according to Western officials and others.
U.S. officials said at the time that Chouchane was likely killed in the air raids, but his fate remains unclear.
Islamic State fighters are now estimated to number between 2,000 and 5,000 in several different cells across Libya. Some of those are believed to be Libyans who left other militant groups, while others are foreigners, including many Tunisians.
In March 2015, gunmen killed 22 people at the National Bardo Museum, a popular destination for visitors in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis. Three month later, an attack on a beach resort in Sousse left 38 people dead, many of them British nationals.
