Police Battle Fighters in Tunisian Town
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A member of Tunisia's security forces were killed on Thursday in a shoot-out with an armed group at its hideout in a town near the capital.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said the exchange of fire came after two counterterrorism operations in the south of the country in which a private security guard was killed, several people were injured and two fighters captured.
The ministry said police traded gunfire with armed "terrorists" who had taken refuge in a house in the town of Oued Ellil, close to Tunis, Al Jazeera reported.
With security heavily increased ahead of parliamentary election on Sunday, Aroui said the incident came after clashes on Thursday in Kebili, 500km south of Tunis.
The suspects in Kebili were arrested after killing a private security guard in the gunfight, he said.
They had been "preparing operations in the area," Aroui said, adding that two Kalashnikov assault rifles were seized.
The elections are seen as crucial to restoring stability in the North African nation, the cradle of the Arab Spring revolutionary movements.
Since the 2011 uprising that ousted Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has seen a proliferation of Islamist political groups suppressed under the former autocratic president and the emergence of several armed groups.
