The Tunisian National Guard announced that it is likely that "two terrorists," among five prisoners who escaped from jail this week, carried out an armed robbery today, Friday, at a bank near the capital Tunis. On Tuesday, five inmates, convicted of killing prominent secular politicians and police officers, broke out of the Mornaguia prison near the capital in a rare security breach in Tunisia, leading the government to dismiss senior intelligence officials.
The armed robbery at the unnamed bank raises concerns about the possibility of these escapees launching attacks in a country where the vital tourism sector has begun to recover after years of stagnation due to the COVID pandemic and previous attacks by extremists. In its statement on Friday, the National Guard indicated that security units have been deployed in the field to track down the fugitives, supported by a helicopter.
President Kais Saied stated this week that what happened is not an ordinary escape, but a premeditated smuggling operation aimed at creating chaos in the country. Security sources described the escapees as "extremely dangerous terrorists." Among the five escapees is Ahmed Maliki, sentenced to 24 years in prison for the assassinations of prominent secular politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi in 2013. Maliki, known as "the Somali," is categorized by Tunisia as "extremely dangerous."
Another escapee, Raed Tawati, is accused of murdering a police officer in 2014 in the Chaambi Mountains near the Algerian border. A Tunisian court sentenced Tawati to death this year after he was arrested in 2019. Security sources report that he is also involved in "the deadliest terrorist attacks" that have shaken the country in the past decade. Since the 2011 revolution, Tunisia has suffered from jihadist attacks that resulted in the deaths of dozens of police officers, foreign tourists, and two political figures. However, in recent years, it has managed to capture or kill key leadership figures of these groups.
