Tunisian counter-terrorism units have recently detonated three landmines set to target security and military convoys pursuing extremists in the western mountainous region.
Tunisian military sources noted that the units have discovered a camp used by terrorists as a hideout in Arbata mountain in the southwestern province of Gafsa, where they found bomb-making material.
The mountainous area has been the scene of armed confrontations between Tunisian armed forces and a terrorist group led by Mourad Gharsalli
The clashes ended on July 10, 2015 when Gharsalli and other terrorists were killed.
Tunisia's Interior Ministry has confirmed that the extremist network found at the camp included six members, but said that there could be a total of 20 terrorists in the mountainous region.
Security officials, who took part in the latest raid on Arbata, affirmed that top terrorists such as Hatem Basdouri and Usama al-Ghazri, were among extremists entrenched in the mountains.
Both have separately joined Uqba Ibn Nafi Battalion – affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - before joining Jund al-Khalifa, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS.
