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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Tunis - Al Munji Al Saidani

Tunisia Police Bust Cell that has Pledged Allegiance to ISIS

The shadow of police officers are seen where a suspected militant was arrested after wounding two policemen in a knife attack near the parliament building in Tunis, Tunisia, November 1, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo

Specialized anti-terrorism police units have dismantled a takfiri cell of five (17 to 21-year-olds), the Tunisian ministry of interior announced Monday.

A ministry statement said the members of the network were intending to join Jund al-Khilafah, a local ISIS affiliate.

According to sources, some of the cell’s members in Kasserine (western Tunisia) had insisted to join Jund al-Khilafah in the Mghila mountains for being influenced by ISIS’ ideology.

The remaining members of the network, who were busted in Ibn Khouldoun and Omrane near the capital, wanted to join the terrorist members in Kasserine and then to collectively join Jund al-Khilafah.

Jund al-Khilafah had defected from Uqba ibn Nafi and pledged allegiance to ISIS terrorist group. However, Uqba ibn Nafi remained affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

In 2014, Jund al-Khilafah pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

According to centers specialized in studying terrorist groups, there are between 300 and 400 sleeper terrorist cells in Tunisia.

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