3 Terrorist Camps Discovered in Tunisia’s Kasserine Mountains

Tunisian police run as they patrol a mountain in Kasserine October 23, 2014. (Reuters)
Tunisian police run as they patrol a mountain in Kasserine October 23, 2014. (Reuters)
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3 Terrorist Camps Discovered in Tunisia’s Kasserine Mountains

Tunisian police run as they patrol a mountain in Kasserine October 23, 2014. (Reuters)
Tunisian police run as they patrol a mountain in Kasserine October 23, 2014. (Reuters)

Tunisia’s interior ministry confirmed that security units had discovered, between February 10 and 22, three terrorist camps in the Kasserine Mountains in western Tunisia.

The Ministry of Interior confirmed that these camps were uncovered during combing operations across mountainous highlands, and through intelligence provided to security services.

In the three camps, equipment used in the manufacture of conventional mines, which terrorists had previously used to hinder army and security units that were chasing them, was found.

Also found were cooking utensils, medicinal residues, water sterilization material and drilling tools.

Tunisian extremist groups experts emphasized that the recent use of these camps confirms that the battle with terrorism has not ended yet and that hostility against the civilian state is still harbored.

Specialized security studies have indicated that recruitment operations to attract new terrorists for ISIS and al-Qaeda have mostly taken place online, making it difficult for security units to monitor newly joined terrorists.

Many of the new recruits are not found in records of security services and they act as lone wolves.

Since 2011, the province of Kasserine, located near the border with Algeria, has been known as a hub of armed extremists.



Türkiye’s Erdogan Says Syria's Sharaa Showed Strong Stance against Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
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Türkiye’s Erdogan Says Syria's Sharaa Showed Strong Stance against Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan praised his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa for showing a strong stance and not compromising in Syria's conflict with Israel, and said Sharaa took a "very positive" step by reaching an understanding with the Druze.

Hundreds of Bedouin civilians were evacuated from Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Monday as part of a US-backed truce meant to end fighting that has killed hundreds of people, state media and witnesses said.

In comments to Turkish media released on Monday, Erdogan said Syria's government had established some control in Sweida and the country's south with around 2,500 soldiers, with all but one Druze faction agreeing to respect the ceasefire during talks in Amman.

He also told reporters on his flight returning from northern Cyprus that the United States now understood it needed to "own" the issue more, warning that the main issue was Israel using the fighting as an excuse to invade Syrian lands.