Although Tunisia was judged to be one of the most stable countries in the region, the fall of the regime following the riots of early 2011 showed how internal political dynamics and the lack of civil liberties had contributed to creating a potential for instability that was difficult to control. From an internal point of view, of particular relevance is the phenomenon of political Salafism, which emerged in the four years of transition, which has caused numerous problems for successive interim governments. The conflicts often degenerated into open clashes with the secular movements and the security forces, causing many injuries and some victims. For Tunisia defense and foreign policy, please check prozipcodes.com.
Furthermore, during 2013, jihadist terrorism became even more important. Tunisia, like the other Maghreb countries, is a potentially fertile territory for the proliferation of groups linked to Islamic terrorism and, in particular, to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim), with its affiliated group Uqba ibn Nafaa. Since 2013, terrorism has returned to cause victims and attacks in Tunisia, previously only against military targets in the mountainous area of Jebel Chaambi, on the border with Algeria. After the ban of Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, the largest Salafist group that arose after the fall of Ben Ali, the security situation has however worsened considerably. 2015, in this sense, marked a year of real turning point, as the first indiscriminate attacks against civilians took place, both Tunisian citizens and, above all, tourists. The attacks against the Bardo Museum and against a group of tourists on a beach near Sousse, which resulted in a total of 60 victims, was joined by the suicide attack against a police bus in the center of Tunis in November 2015, which killed 12. Cells linked to the Islamic State (IS) also operate in Tunisia, especially through contacts with jihadist groups in neighboring Libya, where many Tunisian foreign fighters go (Tunisia is among the first countries in the world for the number of fighters abroad, in Syria, Iraq and Libya).
The challenge of terrorism to Tunisia in transition
Although Tunisia remains the only country in 2016, compared to the other countries affected by the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, to continue on the path of political transition, it still has several challenges ahead of it. The biggest one and which certainly weighs more on the strength of the newborn democratic institutions is represented by the emergence of terrorist forces on their own territory. More evidently, this phenomenon – made more worrying by the presence of at least 3,000 Tunisians in jihad theaters abroad, Syria, Iraq and Libya – manifested itself in all its gravity during 2015, with the Bardo and Sousse. At the roots of radicalization in Tunisia there are two different kinds of motivation. On the one hand, there is the so-called political radicalization, driven by ideological motivations and increased considerably with the spread of the ideology of IS. On the other hand, there are reasons that depend more on socio-economic factors and that have to do with internal disparities: it is no coincidence that one of the major centers of radicalization is the Kasserine area, on the border with Algeria., among the poorest in the country. Faced with this situation, the Tunisian government’s counter-terrorism actions, in addition to focusing on security, must also be aimed at improving development policies. among the poorest in the country. Faced with this situation, the Tunisian government’s counter-terrorism actions, in addition to focusing on security, must also be aimed at improving development policies. among the poorest in the country. Faced with this situation, the Tunisian government’s counter-terrorism actions, in addition to focusing on security, must also be aimed at improving development policies.
