Islamist militant rampage in Tunisia sees 50 die

Dozens of Islamist fighters stormed through the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdan near the Libyan border attacking army and police posts in a raid that killed at least 50 people.

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 town of Djerba, a popular destination for tourists, imposed a curfew on Ben Guerdan and closed two border crossings with Libya.

“I saw a lot of militants at dawn, they were running with their Kalashnikovs,” Hussein, a resident, told Reuters by telephone.

“They said they were Islamic State and they came to target the army and the police.”

It was not clear if the attackers crossed over the border, but it was the type of militant operation Tunisia’s government had feared as it prepares for spillover from Libya, where Islamic State has gained ground.

Since its 2011 revolt to oust ruler Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has struggled with Islamist militancy at home and over the border.

Militants trained in jihadist camps in Libya carried out two attacks last year in Tunisia.