Tunisia, Britain to Develop Joint Counter-Terror Plan

Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)
Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)
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Tunisia, Britain to Develop Joint Counter-Terror Plan

Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)
Policemen patrol during a military operation against militants in a village some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Ben Guerdane, Tunisia, near the Libyan border March 10, 2016. (Reuters)

Tunisia and Britain announced efforts to develop a joint strategy to combat terrorism and its impact.

The announcement was made during an international conference organized by the British embassy and Axiom International and hosted by Tunis. Head of Tunisia’s anti-terrorism commission (CNLCT) Mounir Ksiksi and British Ambassador Edward Oakden, as well as international experts and Tunisian government officials, attended the event.

Both parties agreed that “cyber terrorism” is the current most dangerous threat given that it preys on children and women.

They revealed a bilateral effort to establish a center for training people from scientific backgrounds to study terrorist phenomena and means to prevent them.

Ksiksi affirmed his country’s partnership with the United Kingdom’s embassy to review the domestic counter-terror strategy, which mainly relies on identifying terrorist threats against Tunisia, especially from ISIS and al-Qaeda.

He said the strategy will be implemented on ground and carried out by the military and security forces. A second part of the plan aims to prevent terrorism through protecting Tunisian society.

Tunisia and Britain have suffered from terrorist attacks in the past, Oakden ssaid, citing the Ben Guerdane battle in Tunis and the London and Manchester attacks in the UK.

Britain has boosted its counter-terrorism support for the North African country, especially after the 2015 attacks.



31 Killed in Sudanese City of Sennar Reportedly Killed by RSF

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces in the capital Khartoum (file photo- Reuters)
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces in the capital Khartoum (file photo- Reuters)
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31 Killed in Sudanese City of Sennar Reportedly Killed by RSF

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces in the capital Khartoum (file photo- Reuters)
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces in the capital Khartoum (file photo- Reuters)

At least 31 people have been killed and 100 wounded by an assault blamed on the Rapid Support Forces on the city of Sennar in southeastern Sudan on Sunday, a legal activist group said.

Several parts of the city including the main market have been targeted by RSF artillery fire, said Emergency Lawyers, which has monitored civilian deaths and other humanitarian violations, Reuters reported.

The progress of the RSF, which already controls most of Sennar and at least half of the country, has slowed in the southeast as heavy rains have made movement difficult.

Its war with Sudan's army has created the world's largest hunger and internal displacement crises, killing tens of thousands of civilians and destroying most of Sudan's infrastructure and economy.

Emergency Lawyers said the army had killed at least four people in al-Souki, a town near Sennar, during airstrikes. The RSF killed one person and wounded 17 in artillery strikes on el-Obeid, another town it has struggled to assert full control of.

Both sides in Sudan's 18-month-old civil war have committed abuses that may amount to war crimes, a UN-mandated mission said on Friday, calling for peacekeepers and a country-wide arms embargo.

On Saturday, Sudan's army-aligned foreign ministry rejected both recommendations, calling the idea of international peacekeepers "the wish of Sudan's enemies and it will not be fulfilled."