Tunisia’s standing as a haven from regional instability was shattered by Wednesday’s events, the worst terrorist attack in the nation’s modern history. Even though it witnessed the first uprising of the Arab Spring, Tunisia has avoided the widespread turmoil that has since engulfed North African and Middle Eastern nations including Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria.
Tunisia installed a government led by the secular Nidaa Tounes party after peaceful elections last year, and the economy has registered improvements in exports, tourism and foreign direct investment. The gunmen who gathered in the capital were striking at that record, said Abdul Latif Hannachi, a professor of modern history at Manouba University in Tunis.
“Terrorists used to target security forces away from the cities, now they’re hitting tourists and right in the heart of the capital,” he said.
“Their choice of the parliament and a museum visited by hundreds of tourists daily gives a clear political message that they’re targeting the culture, the economy and the political regime altogether.”
Assassinations
The four years since the revolt that ousted long-time autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali have been punctuated by violence. The assassinations of two opposition leaders, claimed by Islamic State (IS) supporters, triggered the fall of Islamist-led governments. Dozens of members of the security forces have died in battles with al-Qaeda-linked militants and bombings, much of the violence taking place far from Tunis near the border with Algeria.
Tunisia has emerged as the largest source of foreign fighters for the IS group fighting in Syria and Iraq.
In a video that circulated online in December, three Tunisian fighters with Islamic State are heard warning that Tunisians would not live securely “as long as Tunisia is not governed by Islam”. One of the fighters who appeared in the video was Boubakr Hakim, a suspect wanted in connection with the 2013 assassination of a left-leaning Tunisian politician, Chokri Belaid.
As the assault on the museum unfolded, supporters of IS circulated the video again on social media, celebrating the attack as a fulfilment of that warning.
In forecasting Tunisia’s economy would grow 3.7 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund in December said security threats and political tension may undermine the recovery.
“The attack is likely to change the perception of the average person in Europe or the US of Tunisia, but anyone who has followed the country for the past four years knows Tunisia wasn’t an entirely safe place to be,” said Riccardo Fabiani of Eurasia Group.
Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Ennahda party that held power for most of the period since Tunisia’s uprising before losing elections last year, condemned the attack.
“We stand behind our army and security forces, one line to combat terrorism,” he told Al Jazeera television.
Prime minister Habib Essid called on Tunisians to support the army and security forces as the country goes through “a sensitive and important phase” of its transition to democracy. He said that 400 people had recently been arrested for suspected terrorism links and vowed to increase security at tourist sites.
"Tunisia was trying, especially after the elections and the formation of the national unity government, to push this image of opening up for business," Mr Fabiani said. "They had a very ambitious reform plan, now all of this is likely to be much less effective." – (Bloomberg/New York Times service)