Tunisian soldier opens fire on comrades, killing seven

This article originally appeared on The Media Line.

Seven servicemen have been killed in Tunisia in what appears to have been an insider attack by a fellow soldier. It is unclear whether the assailant, who seized a weapon and turned it on his comrades, was linked to a terrorist group or had an alternative motivation for the incident – which cost him his life.

The incident, which left ten others wounded, several of whom are in critical condition, occurred at a military barracks near the parliament building in the capital Tunis.

The government has played down any possibility that the shooting was an act of terror. “The incident which took place at the Bouchoucha barracks is not connected with a terrorist operation,” a spokesperson for the interior ministry told reporters.

The site of the assault is close to the Bardo National Museum – the scene of Tunisia’s worst terror attack in years.

The shooter was identified as a master corporal, a junior rank, by Belhassen Oueslati, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense. The soldier suffered from family problems and behavioral disorders and as such had been banned from carrying a weapon, Oueslati said. Accordingly, he had been posted to Bouchoucha, which was considered a non-sensitive location.

Local media identified the man as 30-year old, Mehdi Jemi.

A security source speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed to The Media Line that the assailant had been prohibited from carrying a weapon. Nevertheless, he stabbed a soldier at the entrance to the barracks, seized the man’s gun and opened fire on those around him, the source said.

The soldier’s motivation for turning on his comrades is still unknown.

Concerns over terrorism following the Bardo Museum siege in March, which left 21 people dead, has had a serious effect on tourism in Tunisia. Traditionally, foreign visitors to the country have provided an important part of the small north African state’s revenue. Most of those killed in the museum attack were European tourists. Two Islamist gunmen were slain by police while a third escaped.

Security forces have intensified operations against extremist groups following the Bardo attack, with increased arrests and a number of operations against cells active in the mountainous region of Kasserine. In one such operation conducted shortly after the Bardo siege, nine members of Okba Ibn Nafaa brigade, an affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), were killed. The group’s leader, Khaled Hamadi Chaib, also known as Lokman Abu Sakhr, was one of those who died during the operation.

The credibility of Tunisia’s transition to democracy has been called into question following several political assassinations and a growing number of attacks against security personnel. The failure of other Arab countries to form stable democratic governments has also cast a shadow over the chances of the embryonic Tunisian democracy. Of the countries that had a change of government following the Arab Spring, Tunisia is the only one that has not reverted to authoritarianism or outright civil war. Both Libya and Syria are in turmoil as the result of their respective regime changes or the attempt to pressure for change. On the other hand, Egypt increasingly appears to be espousing a model of government no different than that practiced for decades prior to the election of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically-elected head of state. Fears remain that Tunisia, the birth place of the Arab Spring, could follow Egypt’s example.

The United States has doubled its funding for military assistance to Tunisia, putting the figure at $160 million.