Al-Qaeda Finds Foothold In Tunisian Poverty
A report from Kasserine, an unlikely incubator for Islamic extremism.
KASSERINE, Tunisia — When the Tunisian government was forced by popular pressure to appoint a new interior minister in March, they chose Lotfi Ben Jeddou, a well-respected public prosecutor from one of the country's poorest and most marginalized cities, Kasserine.
When he took office, Ben Jeddou had no way of knowing that his first serious challenge as head of Tunisian security would come from just outside of his home town.
But that's exactly what happened when the national guard, under Ben Jeddou's command, started stumbling over landmines in Chaambi Mountain National Park, just a few kilometers from Kasserine. The mines have injured 16 security agents, claiming the legs of five.
Over the last few weeks, authorities have dribbled out information about the militant group who planted the mines to defend their hideout in the mountain, and with each detail the danger posed by the combatants has become clearer. We now know that they belong to an al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb cell and have experience in Mali and access to military equipment.
