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Twelve gunmen, originally identified as "gang members," were shot dead Jan. 3 in the Tunisian town of Soliman, 25 miles south of the capital of Tunis. In a similar incident Dec. 24, Tunisian security forces killed two "dangerous criminals" near the Tunis suburb of Hammam Chott. After each incident, the Tunisian government refused to provide more detailed descriptions of the gunmen, despite reports from Reuters that those involved in the Jan. 3 clash crossed into Tunisia from Algeria and were members of an Islamist militant group. Tunisia has apparently become the latest battleground for the Maghreb's resurgent Islamist militant groups.
Al Qaeda has maintained a healthy interest in North Africa for years but has been largely unable to establish a significant presence there. The multiple suicide bombing attacks in Casablanca, Morocco, in 2003 were the last major operation in the region that bore the group's hallmarks. However, several recent events indicate al Qaeda is paying more attention to North Africa. A raid in Morocco on Nov. 20, 2006, netted 17 suspected militants and exposed the extent of al Qaeda's presence in the country after almost two years of investigation. A Jan. 4 raid on a Moroccan terrorist cell suspected of recruiting militants to fight in Iraq shows that clampdowns have not completely quashed the group's efforts. The October 2006 simultaneous truck bomb attacks against police stations in Algeria bore some characteristics of an al Qaeda operation, but there were differences as well, suggesting that Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat militant group is tailoring the jihadist network's tactics to suit its needs.
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