Tunisian army launches air strikes on Islamist militants

Airstrikes kill several militants in Mount Chaambi area near the Algerian border.

By REUTERS
Tunisian forces launch air strikes on Islamist militants 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Tunisian forces launch air strikes on Islamist militants 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
TUNIS - Tunisian armed forces launched air strikes against Islamist militants in the Mount Chaambi area near the Algerian border on Monday, an army source said.
The source also said several militants had been killed and four were arrested in the same region on Sunday. He gave no death toll.
Aircraft bombed caves in and around Mount Chaambi, where the military has been trying to track down Islamist militants since December, witnesses and the army source said.
The operations were launched in the same area where militants ambushed and killed eight soldiers last month in one of the deadliest attacks on Tunisian security forces in decades.
Tunisia's Islamist-led government is also grappling with a mounting protest movement organized by the secular opposition that is demanding its resignation.
The opposition, angered by the assassination of two of its leaders, and emboldened by the ouster of Egypt's Islamist president by the military, is trying to topple Tunisia's government led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda.
It also wants to dissolve the Constituent Assembly, which is weeks away from finishing a draft constitution and election law.