Tunisia constitutes a deterrent force and security challenge along the border

Security services of countries neighboring Libya, especially Tunisia and Algeria, have drafted security monitoring reports, saying that hundreds of terrorists belonging to the so-called “Islamic State” or “Daesh” are not far from the Algerian and Tunisian borders after fleeing heavy shelling and sustained military operations waged by Libyan combined forces against their strongholds in the city of Sirte, Libya.

Security sources noted that a number of ringleaders belonging to the “Daesh” terror organization, who managed to get out of Sirte, include a leading figure in the extremist group, who is considered as a “Daesh” foreign minister in Libya, Bahraini Torki Benali who was among the escapees, as well as other terrorist elements of Iraqi Saudi, Tunisian, Algerian and Yemeni nationalities in addition to a number of Africans.

Security sources told “Echorouk” that these fleeing terrorists are currently holed up in bordering zones between Libya, Algeria and Tunisia in light of the weakness of the security forces in Libya.

A security expert knowledgeable of the Libyan file, Ahmed Mizab said that the security situation in Libya is very volatile and extremely intricate to sort out for the time being owing to several adverse factors.

“The war on terrorism in Libya is not aimed at primarily stamping out the terror Organization “Daesh”, but rather aims to drastically curtail its nefariousness and to reduce the hovering danger by notably preventing this radical group from extending its presence to the west, because the war on terrorism requires a clear-cut and comprehensive strategy”, he explained.

“Libya, he added, must coordinate closely with other neighbor countries  in order to be able to  root out this scourge completely, and not by relying solely on random airstrike operations, in so far as the terror “Daesh” organization has opened since last May, safe corridors across the west and south of Libya “.