Exclusive: Shooting of Salafists In Tunisia May Spur More Attacks
Violence by radical Islamists has made a recent reappearance in the impoverished neighborhoods surrounding Tunis. Salafists are attempting to replace the area's security forces, who no longer have full control over the towns, writes Mischa Benoit-Lavelle in this exclusive report from Douar Hicher.
Standing between two armored cars outside of the national-guard post he commands, Nadhem Bannouri recounted the story of the officers who on Tuesday night, Oct. 30, opened fire on a crowd of Salafists that had stormed a national-guard post, killing the imam and muezzin (official who calls to prayer) of a local mosque. Armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails, the crowd forced its way into the under-manned post and stole a pistol and a teargas-grenade launcher.
As Bannouri tells it, the officers’ backs were to the wall — the post has no emergency exit — and they were forced to shoot.
