Tunisia leaders urged to rethink anti-militant strategy

TUNIS — Tunisia's leaders faced calls Thursday to rethink their strategy in the fight against extremism following a suicide bombing by the Daesh terror group that killed a busload of presidential guards.

The North African nation's struggle against militant violence has taken on added urgency following three major attacks this year by Daesh, which has made Tunisia one of its main targets.

The authorities closed the border with strife-wracked Libya for 15 days, imposed a nationwide state of emergency and a night-time curfew in Tunis after 12 presidential guards were killed in Tuesday's blast.

"Some of the materials used in the bombing are not available in Tunisia, but they can be found in Libya," Prime Minister Habib Essid told parliament.

On Thursday, the interior ministry identified the suicide bomber, based on "final biological analysis", as Hussam ben Hedi ben Miled Abdelli, a 26-year-old travelling salesman from Manouba, near the capital.

Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli announced that Tunisians returning from conflict zones would be put under house arrest under new security measures.

The bombing comes after 60 people were killed, all but one of them foreign tourists, in two separate Daesh attacks earlier this year in the Mediterranean resort of Sousse and at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis.

The response has been criticised by some politicians as insufficient.

"Our people expect more," leftist lawmaker Ahmed Seddik said in parliament.

Several other politicians, including Abdellatif Mekki of the Islamist party Ennahda, the country's number two political force, called for a national congress on the fight against terrorism.

On Wednesday, the National Security Council decided to increase surveillance of maritime borders and airports, recruit 6,000 more personnel for the army and interior ministry and step up efforts to block Internet sites linked to extremism.

It also pledged to implement as quickly as possible a terrorism law, which was met with scepticism by
many when it was adopted in July.

Independent expert Selim Kharrat criticised the response as "superficial decisions taken to reassure a frightened public, which indicates a lack of vision".

"What is the basic strategy? What about the reform of the security apparatus? What do you plan to do for education and to tackle unemployment?" he asked.

Essid told parliament that a youth employment plan in regions plagued by extremism and poverty would be implemented "from next week".

Hamza Meddeb, a researcher for the Carnegie Middle East Centre, said Tunisia lacks "a real concerted national strategy against terrorism, which involves the state, civil society and political parties".

Tunisia, the cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings, has been plagued by militant violence since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.

Rights groups have urged Tunisia to respect civil liberties during the state of emergency and curfew, which the authorities have vowed to apply "strictly".