Tunisia’s interior ministry released the identities of three terrorists that security forces had killed in a raid on Sept. 2 in the country’s central west province of Kasserine.
According to DNA profiling, two of the terrorists were Algerian nationals that were wanted for criminal activity both in Tunisia and Algeria, whilst the third was a Tunisian national.
The Tunisian national was identified as Salah al Qasimi, a wanted fugitive since 2013.
Qasimi is believed to have been the head of the Wargha terror cell, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
He is also is wanted for supervising field training for members of the Aqbat Bin Nafi terrorist offshoot. The boot camps included looting activity whereby members seized food, blankets and money at night from people living in remote rural areas.
Qasimi's good knowledge of mountain trails helped him in planning and mounted such night raids.
It is worth noting that the Sept.2 successful security ambush took down the three terrorist leaders in a shootout which also killed a local public security officer.
During this pre-emptive security operation, Kalashnikov-branded machine guns were seized and several explosive belts were dismantled.
Tunisian security expert Ali Zarmadini, in a press statement, said that such qualitative ambushes have managed to confine the movements of terrorists and tightened the noose around their hideouts.
Commenting on the event, Zarmadini noted that security and military units have entered a progressive stage whereby it is hunting down main terror leaders who are tied to elements outside the state of Tunisia.
For years, Tunisian authorities have been working to reign in terror risks. Consequently, they have taken steps and measures aimed at clamping down on terrorist activities and preventing suspicious funding to terrorist organizations.
