Tunisia: Terror attack on National Guard barrack foiled

A group of terrorists Saturday exchanged shots with members of Tunisia’s National Guard in Kairouan, North of the North African country.

The police said in a statement that gunmen in a car opened fire but were repelled by a “massive” retaliatory barrage, without any casualties reported in the exchange.

Those responsible for “this cowardly attack were probably … part of a terrorist cell,” operating between Kairouan and Sousse in eastern Tunisia, that had been dismantled with arrests made, the police added in the statement.

The attack came on Tunisia’s independence day and with the country plunged in political crisis.

Also, counter-terrorism forces arrested Tuesday six men forming a terror cell, in Tataouine, southern Tunisia.

The cell, led by a terrorist not known to the security services, indoctrinated youth in the region and had plans to manufacture explosives and poisons to be used in terror operations.

Tunisia has been in a state of emergency since November 2015 after the country suffered its bloodiest attacks in history. Three terror attacks that year claimed by the Islamic state group killed over 70 people, mostly foreign tourists.