Tunisia’s Interior Ministry announced the dismantling of a terror-funding cell consisting of five suspects accused of financing terrorists active in Syria.
The ministry confirmed that the five were spotted in El Kef, located 160 km northwest Tunis, and Zaghouan, which is 60 km from the Tunisian capital.
A large sum of money in local and foreign currencies was confiscated, said the ministry in the likelihood of detained suspects being convicted of terror funding.
Sources said judicial authorities referred the cell to a specialized court and is pending the release of more information concerning methods of fundraising and transactions made abroad.
“The money may be going out from Tunisia, but it will not be transferred directly to Tunisian terrorists in Syria, They are likely to be smuggled through Libya and then head for Turkey—possibly pass through European countries before arriving in Turkey,” an expert on terror funding explained on how terror funds travel.
Col. Mokhtar Ben Nasr, who heads a government committee on counter-terrorism, stressed the solid link joining terrorist groups and smuggling gangs, especially on those nestled across the Tunisian-Libyan border.
Tunisian terrorist Adil Ghandari, accused of participating in the terrorist attack on southeastern border town Ben Gardane (south-east of Tunisia) in 2016, had admitted to frequently smuggling arms to terrorists across the Tunisia-Libya borders.
Security and military control checkpoints along the border between Tunisia and Libya were easy to bypass given his knowledge of desert and hidden roads, he added.
Tunisian terrorists active abroad represent a real threat, Tunisian security sources said.
Local authorities expressed concern that Tunisian terrorists amassed in Syria’s Idlib could be deported back to Tunisia by the thousands.
Turkish authorities opposed Syrian regime and allied forces from storming the city, making its fate vaguer, and possibly opening up prospects for an undeclared settlement.
According to official government reports, some 2,929 Tunisian terrorists have joined terrorist organizations outside Tunisia, 70 percent of which are on Syrian territory.
Similar reports confirmed the return of some 800 terrorists to Tunisia, making for a hotly debated political topic.
Many social groups refused to reintegrate returned terrorists. Political and security parties even went so far as to call for stripping the returnees of their Tunisian citizenship.
