By George, Year 8
In the Tunisian town of Ben Gardane, gunfire started around dawn on Monday. At first the townspeople thought some pranksters were setting off fireworks, but, using mortars and small-arms, suspected ISIS members had stormed the Tunisian town of Ben Gardane, along the Libyan border. The members of the attack were most likely dislodged by the U.S. airstrikes on Sobra, Libya. They assured the citizens that they were there solely to fight the security forces, not the people. They sought to hide in people’s houses, and told them not to be afraid.
What followed was an hours-long gunfight that ultimately led to the defeat of the muslims, at the hands of both Tunisian security forces and people from the gritty, hardscrabble town. Ultimately a day of ferocious clashes left at least 7 civilians and 12 members of the security forces dead, along with about 36 members of ISIS.
For security experts and officials monitoring jihadi groups in North Africa, the Ben Gardane attack was a terrifying illustration of ISIS’s ambitions and gumption, effectively trying to take control of a major town in Tunisia right out from under the noses of security forces.
Though Ben Gardane is impoverished, it’s not a war zone and Tunisia generally remains fairly stable and unified.
Quickly realizing the town of 80,000, a major trading outpost between Libya and Tunisia, was under attack, the people of Ben Gardane faced two choices: wait inside until the clashes ended, or help the security forces. Many citizens chose to help, and that may have been decisive.
Some citizens decided to pick up and throw rocks at the militants, with others working the phones, calling security forces and telling them the locations in which the enemy was hiding. One person opened his house and welcomed all and any member of police and the security forces to rest inside.
Civilians helped move the injured to the hospital, and served food and water to the security forces. Others simply provided moral support by moving with security forces to the locations of the clashes, urging them on against the invaders.
The attack likely indicates Tunisia’s vulnerabilities and the threat ISIS’s Libyan operation poses to its neighbours. ISIS has recruited heavily among Tunisians. Could there be a larger attack in Tunisia?