Tunisian authorities say 'terrorist attack' near Tunis synagogue fails
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - A knife-wielding individual attacked a security unit posted near a "sensitive institution" near downtown Tunis on Thursday night during which one officer was injured in the shoulder and another in the hand.
At a press conference, the spokesperson for the Tunisian ministry of the Interior, Fadhila Khelifi, described the operation as a "terrorist attack" perpetrated by "a lone wolf", while awaiting the conclusions of the ongoing investigation to reveal any possible collusion.
According to the spokesperson, the assailant fled but was arrested shortly afterwards in a building near the scene of the attack after a manhunt by security agents who seized the weapon used in the attack.
The director of the ministry's communications office, Faker Bouzgaya, told PANA that the "attack" took place in front of the synagogue in Tunis. He identified the assailant as an offender who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for acts of violence on the public highway but released in 2021.
After his release, he was "recruited" to become "a religious extremist", he added.
The spokesperson reported the discovery of "serious threats" targeting President Kaïs Saied.
According to the same source, these threats, based on "reliable information" received by the specialized services of the Ministry of Interior and supported by cross-checking, target "the physical integrity" of the head of state and the institution of the presidency of the Republic.
"They aim to undermine public security and sow chaos in Tunisia," Khelifi said without elaborating.
Tunisia is facing an acute political crisis since President Saied granted himself full powers on 25 July, 2021 to "straighten the country out".
Many opposition voices accuse him of taking a totalitarian path, endangering the democratic experiment undertaken by Tunisia, which was then considered an "exception" among the so-called "Arab Spring" countries.
Despite the hostility of several parties and organizations including the Islamist movement - Ennahdha -, his main opponent to which Saied attributes in large part the setbacks of the country after the revolution that toppled the former regime of President Ben Ali.
-0- PANA BB/IS/BBA/RA 24June2022
