Tunisia has upped its military presence along the border with Libya after the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj announced that it wrested control of western Libya, Tunisian official sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The Tunisian Ministry of Defense announced in an official communiqué on Tuesday that the military formations were following the security situation in the Libyan regions bordering the Tunisian land and maritime borders, “with the highest degree of vigilance.”
The Tunisian Armed Forces “are ready to face any emergency, in close cooperation with the security forces, the National Guard and the Customs,” it added.
Rashad el-Tayeb, head of the government’s National Counter-Terrorism Committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the security forces and the national army were closely monitoring developments on the country’s southeastern borders with Libya, adding that they were fully prepared to move efficiently, and “face all scenarios of escape of terrorists or armed persons from the hotbeds of fighting in Libya, to the national territory by land or sea.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Rafik Shelli, head of the Tunisian Center for Global Security Studies said that the security forces and the army have reinforced their positions in southern Tunisia and the border areas to ensure the security of the country, and exclude all scenarios of infiltration of armed militias.
Major General Mohamed Al-Moadab, the former Director General of Military Security and the Tunisian Customs, warned against a scenario of a future civil war in Libya, but ruled out the involvement of the country’s politicians in the “intra-Libyan differences.”
Al-Moadab called for more vigilance in facing armed gangs and terrorist groups, who could exploit the world’s preoccupation with the coronavirus pandemic to encourage smuggling and threaten the security and economic situation of North African countries.
