The Court of First Instance in Tunis has sentenced a Tunisian woman to six years in prison on charges of supplying her brother with electronic devices that could be used for carrying out terrorist attacks.
Her brother fights for Uqba ibn Nafi battalion in western Tunisia’s Jebel Ech Chambi. The battalion is affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The criminal chamber specialized in terrorist cases at the Tunis Court of First Instance accused the woman of providing equipment to individuals linked to terrorist crimes.
Security forces launched an investigation after units in Kasserine were informed that a girl from outside the region is frequently visiting the vicinity of Jebel Ech Chambi. After putting her under close surveillance, anti-terrorism forces arrested her in an ambush.
The woman was carrying mobile phones and sim cards to deliver them to her brother.
The defendant confessed that she came from Sousse, in eastern Tunisia, and was heading to the mountain to meet her brother who had joined terrorists there five years ago.
In a related development, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense confirmed that around 61,000 soldiers have participated in around 1,508 military operations to tighten the grip on terrorist groups that have been hiding in the western mountains.
The ministry asserted that the Tunisian Armed Forces managed between Jan. 2018 and May 2019 to remove around 20 landmines and defuse around 124 shells left over from World War II.
