Tunisia: catch all

[davidbfpo]

An IISS blog item, the full title and sub-title being:

Tunisia’s reluctant partnership with NATO; Tunisia's mixed signals over NATO cooperation reflect domestic pressures and regional tensions. France may see an opportunity to build influence in its former colony.

The choices? NATO, France - note separately and Algeria. The later of course has a different CT approach:

Tunis is increasingly reliant on Algeria’s counter-terrorism expertise, gained during the ‘black decade’ of the 1990s.

Link:https://www.iiss.org/en/iiss%20voice...be3f90&urlid=4

[davidbfpo]

A detailed account of this little known insurgency, with Jihadist and ISIS elements involved.
Link:https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/0...ands-pub-76712

[davidbfpo]

An overview of the situation, which is rather pessimistic as this passage shows:

A rare acknowledgement of the dire situation came recently from the minister of defence, Abdelkrim Zbidi. He affirmed that current political conflicts are responsible for 90% of Tunisia’s problems, including its failing security. It is a widely held view, which sounds rather like an ultimatum against the ruling class. The risk that the military might now intervene in some way has never been so real in Tunisia.

Link:https://theconversation.com/terroris...africa-106087?

[davidbfpo]

A NYT article, following on a FOI by 'Task & Purpose' following medals being awarded to US Marines after a 2017 border clash:

The 2017 clash involving the Marines was a reminder of the resilience of the jihadists, even amid the combined American-Tunisian efforts. In the Kasserine mountain area, only a few dozen guerrillas are active at any given time. Yet because of its proximity to the Algerian border, the Tunisian army has struggled to secure it.The team of Marines was on a three-day mission with Tunisian forces when it got into a “fierce fight against members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,” according to one of the award citations for the Marines, who were not identified. Although the Marines were said to be on a “train, advise and assist” mission, the citations made clear that they were fighting and, at times, directing events.

Link:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/w...terrorism.html

[davidbfpo]

From an Israeli think tank, something I might have missed: https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en...vince-country/

[davidbfpo]

Aaron Zelin is a known SME, who I think I have heard talk once in London and thanks to Twitter found he has a website dedicated to Tunisia, part of the promotion for a forthcoming book due out in January 2020.

His latest article is a very brief account / comment on Tunisia action against IS in the mountains. The website has many more articles.
Link:https://tunisianjihadism.com/2019/08...as-an-is-base/