TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
2 soldiers killed in Tunisia violence after Nobel Prize
In this Monday, Jan
Change Size
In this Monday, Jan. 17. 2011 file photo, protesters greet soldiers during a demonstration against former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the center of Tunis. (AP/Christophe Ena) (AP/Christophe Ena)
I
span class="inline inline-center">In this Monday, Jan. 17. 2011 file photo, protesters greet soldiers during a demonstration against former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the center of Tunis. (AP/Christophe Ena)
Two Tunisian soldiers were killed and three wounded in clashes with extremists near the Algerian border, Tunisia's Defense Ministry said Monday, days after Tunisian mediators won the Nobel Peace Prize for averting civil war.
A group linked to Al-Qaida's North Africa branch, the Oqba Ibnou Nafaa brigade, claimed responsibility for the killings, according to the SITE group, which monitors extremist activities.
The soldiers were conducting a sweep of the Mt. Samama area after the kidnapping of a shepherd, said Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Belhassen Oueslati.
The area is near Mt. Chaambi in western Tunisia, where dozens of security forces have died battling Islamic extremists.
The violence is a reminder of the fragility of the peace in Tunisia celebrated by this year's Nobel. A quartet of mediators was awarded for bridging disputes between Islamist and opposition legislators. Tunisia remains the only country to have emerged from Arab Spring uprisings with a functioning democracy, but has seen deadly attacks on tourists this year. (k)(++++)
