How Tunisia’s security agencies are confronting infiltration attempts
Terrorist organizations in Tunisia have recruited policemen and soldiers within its ranks to obtain information on the security forces and use it in attacks, which has prompted the Tunisian authorities to fortify security agencies to abort infiltration attempts.
Online news site Akher Khabar reported June 27 that Tunisia’s Ministry of Defense had dismissed four soldiers on charges of religious extremism, saying it had “obtained documents showing their dismissal by the administrative court.”
It is not the first time that members of Tunisia’s security and military establishments have been dismissed on charges of religious extremism and collaboration with jihadi organizations active in the country. In September 2015, Tunisia’s Ministry of Interior dismissed 110 security members on suspicion of having ties with terrorist organizations. The ministry claimed that the suspects were affiliated with “various agencies, including the police, gendarmerie, army and customs.”
General Inspector of National Security Taoufik Bouaoun confirmed the incident in an interview with Tunisia’s MAD radio station on Sept. 14, 2015. He said, “Five or six of these [suspects] were referred to the judiciary for their direct collaboration with smuggling networks or some terrorist members.”
Bouaoun said that some of the suspects “have revealed to terrorists information on the security [forces'] patrols and positions in exchange for a bribe.”
