50 killed as Militants attack Tunisian forces near Libyan border

Dozens of Islamist fighters stormed through the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdan near the Libyan border on Monday attacking army and police posts in a raid that killed at least 50 people, including civilians, the government and residents said. Local television broadcast images of soldiers and police crouched in doorways and on rooftops as gunshots […]

Dozens of Islamist fighters stormed through the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdan near the Libyan border on Monday attacking army and police posts in a raid that killed at least 50 people, including civilians, the government and residents said.
Local television broadcast images of soldiers and police crouched in doorways and on rooftops as gunshots echoed in the centre of the town. Bodies of dead militants lay in the streets near the military barracks after the army regained control.
Authorities sealed off the nearby beach resort town of Djerba, a popular destination for foreign and local tourists, imposed a curfew on Ben Guerdan and closed two border crossings with Libya after the attack. Soldiers killed 33 militants and arrested six, the Interior Ministry said.