Tunisian president criticises media denigration against army

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on Monday slammed media reports that pointed to the army's lack of progress in pursuing insurgents hiding in a western mountain. Marzouki made the remark during an address marking the 57th anniversary of the Tunisian army. Speaking of the insurgency in Mountain Chaambi, Marzouki said " the army is combating terrorist groups who wanted to impose a new mode of life on Tunisians by the force of arms in defiance of the republican system." On the ground, two army officers were killed and 20 others injured in the ongoing manhunt for alleged al-Qaida-linked insurgents. Marzouki praised the army's neutrality since the 2011 upheaval that toppled former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as well as its humanitarian role in managing refugee crisis on the Libyan border and in dispatching aid to the people of Gaza, Syria and, more recently, flood victims in Niger. "The success of the 2011 elections was greatly made possible by the army," Marzouki said, adding that it has been working "to preserve the country's transitional process." The Tunisian army, which comprises some 30,000 men, is one of the least equipped in the Arab region. But it has taken part in UN peace-keeping operations in a number of countries including Haiti and Cambodia.