New study explores Tunisia’s jihadi movement in numbers
Gleaning information from court cases, researchers have made significant discoveries about Tunisia’s jihadi movement.
A recently released study by the Tunisian Center for Research and Studies on Terrorism (CTRET) revealed new insights into Tunisian jihadi groups, including their affiliations with organizations outside the country, their anti-government plans and demographic information about their members.
Using the records of 1,000 incarcerated jihadis involved in 384 court cases from 2011 to 2015, the report found that 40% of the terrorists held a university degree or had some level of higher education. The CTRET report also found that women were 3.5% of the sample, and 751 of the 1,000 terrorists were under age 35.
CTRET researcher Iman Qazara told Al-Monitor, “The prevalence of the terrorism phenomenon among young people, university graduates and women highlights the failure of the government in dealing with young people, as well as that of an educational system that [actually] led to higher unemployment levels among Tunisian university graduates."
Women became involved early on when Ansar al-Sharia was formed in 2011 by Saifullah Bin Hussein, known as Abu Ayyad. Tunisian authorities say the group, which includes many Salafi jihadi supporters, smuggles weapons and has attacked the Tunisian army and police. Women's roles in Ansar al-Sharia were limited at first, but expanded as terrorism grew. The case of Fatima al-Zawaghi is a good example, as she was entrusted with sensitive tasks within Ansar al-Sharia. These tasks ranged from monitoring social media to issuing orders to the organization’s cells after Tunisian authorities classified it as a terrorist organization and began imprisoning its leaders in August 2013.
