Tunisian forces intensify operations against armed groups

Tunisian ambulance services at the scene in Wardieh, south Tunis Tunisia's Interior Ministry on Sunday confirmed that a gunman was killed and and four others detained during a security operation against armed militants in the suburb of Wardieh, south Tunis. Officers stormed a building after receiving intelligence information, and briefly exchanged fire with the suspected militants. The ministry said that the men were part of a group previously identified as a danger to Tunisian society, and that investigations were underway to track down the remainder of the group.
Security sources said that militants arrested in Sousse (140 km south of Tunis) on Saturday evening had informed officials about the rest of their colleagues being in Wardieh.
A Tunisian special forces officer was injured during the operation. He was taken to a local hospital with gunshot wounds.
In a separate incident, security forces took control of a vehicle loaded with weapons and ammunition in the south eastern region of Medenine. Two men were arrested following a brief exchange of fire on Sunday evening, near the Algerian border.
The two men opened fire on a security vehicle, in the area of Wad al-?Rabaya, near the town of Ben Gardane.
The ministry explained that one of the men fired in the air, before heading towards a forest nearby. As he was pursued by security officers, he fired twice more at the forces, before turning the gun on himself. The guards managed to intervene and arrest him, along with an accomplice.
Sources said that one of the individuals arrested previously belonged to a jihadist organisation known as the Suleiman Group, which was banned by the former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2006, before the order was lifted in 2011.?
On Saturday night, Tunisian police raided several extremist hideouts in the east central city of Sousse, with the interior ministry claiming that it had successfully foiled a plot to assassinate a third senior Tunisian politician.
Authorities intensified the search for Salafist radical Boubaker Hakim, chief suspect in the assassination of opposition politicians Mohamed Brahmi and Chokri Belaid.
Meanwhile, military sources said 10 militants were killed and three other arrested as Tunisian soldiers scoured the Shanabi mountains, near the Algerian borders. Details were sketchy, with authorities revealing little before the operation has been completed.
The operation has been ongoing since last Monday when the bodies of nine Tunisian soldiers were found on Mount Chaambi, some 300 km south of Tunis.
Tunisian troops were involved in heavy fighting with armed extremists in the region, with military sources saying that ten gunmen were killed, and three others arrested in the area of Bir Ouled Nasr Allah Foussana in Kasserine.
The reported success of the Tunisian forces gave the nation renewed hope and confidence in the military and the state's security institutions.
Political analysts said that the military is preparing for a long operation in Shanabi mountains, and will seek the help of Algerian authorities in this regard.