Tunisia arrests woman suspected of planning attack

Tunisia’s interior ministry said Friday it had foiled a “terrorist” attack, with the arrest of a woman returning from Syria who was planning a suicide bombing at a tourist resort.

The 22-year-old Tunisian was arrested at Tunis airport on January 10, the ministry said in a statement.

She had travelled to Turkey in 2020, then last year reached Syria, where unspecified extremist groups trained her for a suicide bombing, it said.

Tunisian authorities have also arrested another “terrorist” who was planning to provide her with an explosive belt, it added.

He was also “involved in planning and preparation of terrorist operations in late 2021 targeting important state officials”.

After Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, the North African country saw a wave of jihadist attacks that killed dozens of security personnel and foreign tourists.

Many Tunisians also travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State group’s “caliphate” and other extremist groups.

By AFP