Fifteen soldiers hurt in Mona Guebla’s suicide bombing, which took place last October at the heart of the Tunisian capital Tunis, refused receiving a $100 remuneration offered by Tunisia’s interior ministry for their service and their incurred losses.
Wassim Al Mahmoudi, a Tunisian official with knowledge of the matter, said that the soldiers had rejected the reward and demanded the interior ministry to act upon stipulations in chapter 22 of the code for regulating Tunisia’s internal security forces, which recommends their promotion based on exceptional service instead.
Mahmoudi, who is also a union member, said that the injury of Tunisian security forces in such a treacherous terrorist attack represents a valiant effort in the fight against terrorism, calling for their fair treatment and promotion like former comrades had had before in similar cases.
Apparently, the 15 fear the possibility of losing their rights to a promotion and authorities keeping to offering a financial reward and a certificate of appreciation issued by the Minister of the Interior. Demanding an explanation from the ministry, the soldiers alongside others threatened to carry out protests in the event of failure of implementing what the law calls for clearly.
In the meantime, Minister of the Interior Hisham al-Fratti sent a cable of thanks and appreciation to all Tunisian security units for their efforts and success in securing a labor union’s general strike which hit Tunisia’s public sectors two days ago.
Guebla’s suicide bombing rocked the main avenue in central Tunis, where the powerful explosion, detonated by the 30-year-old, targeted a group of police officers on Habib Bourguiba Avenue. Despite causing no deaths, the attack was the first lone wolf suicide attack of such a scale in the African state.
Since the 2011 revolution, Tunisia has been a scene for frequent terrorist attacks, with international human rights organizations saying that Tunisian women comprise 10 percent of all Tunisians who have joined radical groups in conflict zones abroad, especially in Libya, Syria, and Iraq.
