Tunisia’s poor population face death by terrorists
Six years into the war on terrorism in the neglected mountainous region of Tunisia and the government is still unable to do much to improve the economic situation of the poor or protect them from terrorist threats.
The Tunisian armed forces found the body of Khalifa al-Sultani, a 21-year-old shepherd, in Jebel Mghila in the central governorate of Sidi Bouzid on June 3, after combing the exact area where the body of his brother, Mabrouk, was previously found in November 2015.
On the same day, the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for Khalifa's death. Back in 2015, IS posted a video showing the final moments of Mabrouk, 16, before he was beheaded, accusing him of cooperating with the Tunisian military services.
This incident shed light once again on the deteriorating security and economic conditions in the Tunisian mountainous areas affected by the jihadi groups in the Kasserine, Jendouba and Sidi Bouzid governorates in the northwest and the central western region. Residents have been suffering under the decline of agricultural and pastoral activity in the area due to the unstable security situation and the state’s inability to provide alternatives to help.
In April 2014, the Tunisian authorities declared Mount Chambi and some of its adjacent areas, such as Semmama, Salloum and Mghila mountains, a closed military zone, after jihadi groups claimed the area as their stronghold. Getting access to this region now requires permits from the military authorities. This reduced the size of the pastoral area used by the local population. The decision also ended wood and coal production and the harvesting of wild plants that are sold for oil extraction, all of which are daily activities that allow residents to put food on the table in a primitive economy that lacks services.
