Tunisia’s Prime Minister Habib Essid said:
"The border with Libya is not safe. It stretches for 560 kilometers, which makes protecting it very difficult. There is desert, mountains, sand. Terrorist attacks are increasing."
Tunisia is blaming its problem with jihadist extremists on the collapse of its neighboring country, Libya. Prime Minister Essid told Parliament that “We are engaged in a ferocious war against terrorism to protect lives and property, defend the republican regime…the civil state and its institutions”, he said.
In 2011 France and Britain embarked on a military mission to remove the country’s leader Colonel Gaddafi from power. But since the break-up of Gaddafi’s regime, Libyan rebels are turning on each other in a country described as chaotic, lawless and a failed state.
TUNISIA BUILDING WALL 100 MILES LONG AT LIBYA BORDER 2 KEEP TERRORISTS OUT WHERE IS #BDS #HRW @KenRoth @RogerWaters pic.twitter.com/cRfxHIwWTC
— Abraham ben Jacob (@coinabs) July 9, 2015
Many believe that the bombing campaign led by European forces has made the situation worse, not only for Libya, but the countries around it.
Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director says: "The international community has stood and watched as Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 NATO military campaign ended, effectively allowing militias and armed groups to run amok."
Libya is now, according to UN special envoy Bernardino Leon, "on the verge of economic and financial collapse" and faces "a huge security threat because of civil war."
"Da’esh [ISIL] is trying to build strong bases in Libya. Libya also is facing an increasing political division with these competing institutions in the east and in the west."
It’s claimed since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, many of the weapons used by Western forces to oust Gaddafi’s regime are now in the hands of rival militias, including Islamic State.
A gun man who trained in a jihadist training camp in Libya is responsible for last month’s deadly attack on tourists in Tunisia, which left 38 people dead, mainly Britons. Tunisian student Seifeddine Rezgui stormed a resort in Sousse armed with a Kalashnikov and grenades after being trained in Sabratha.
The construction of the wall on the Libyan-Tunisian border is expected to be finished by the end of the year. The wall will also be lined with trenches and look out points to try and stop the switching sides of Islamic State terrorism.
