Tunisia probes deaths of
countryman in US airstrike
in Libya
TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisian authorities on Monday authorized an investigation into the deaths of Tunisian citizens in last week’s U.S. airstrike on an Islamic State group training camp in neighboring Libya.
A court spokesman, Kamel Barbouche, said the green light for the probe into Friday’s attack on the camp near Sabratha, not far from the Tunisian border, was given because most of those killed were Tunisian nationals. Local Libyan officials said more than 40 people were killed and many others injured. The strikes targeted Tunisian extremist Noureddine Chouchane, the Pentagon has said.
There was no certainty that Chouchane was killed.
The Tunisian probe aims to find out, via DNA, who is dead and who is still alive and, once identified, whether they are implicated in terrorism or other cases under judicial review, Barbouche said by telephone. Survivors also will be questioned, he said.
The investigation would help determine whether Chouchane was killed. He is wanted by Tunisia in the March attack on the Bardo museum outside Tunis. Some 60 foreign tourists were killed in that attack and a June attack on a resort hotel in Sousse.
The U.S. strikes on the training camp fueled Tunisian concerns about an eventual military intervention in Libya by coalition members. Authorities have ramped up security at the Libyan border. Tunisia has a border of some 500 kilometers with Libya, which has spiraled into chaos.
A leading opposition party, Al Joumhouri, fears Tunisia, struggling on the road to democracy despite economic troubles and attacks, could become collateral damage in a military intervention in Libya. Party leader Maya Jribi said at a news conference that such a scenario would be “catastrophic for Tunisia, for the entire region.”
Bouazza, Bouazza Ben. "Tunisia Probes Deaths of Countryman in US Airstrike in Libya." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/tunisia-probes-deaths-of-countryman-in-us-airstrike-in-libya/2016/02/22/39ad52e8-d990-11e5-8210-fbd8de915f6_story.html>.
Author Ben Bouazza explains in this article about the strike on the city of Sabratha, targeting Tunisian extremist Noureddine Chouchane and killing 40 and injuring others, most of them being Tunisian citizens. According to a leading opposition party called the Al Joumhouri, events like this could become a downward spiral of dead Tunisians that are just collateral damage in the midst of the US's bigger goals to fight terrorism. Party leader Maya Jribi even describes it as "catastrophic for Tunisia, for the entire nation." This also fired Tunisia up becuase its a sign of a "eventual military intervention in Libya by coalition members."
ReplyDeleteI think this could definitely be a big hit in their economic growth and their fight for democracy if these attacks keep happening. It is crucial for them to flourish in both if democracy is going to last. But another event like the 3 already and Tunisia could be getting into trouble.
It is interesting to see that this article tells us that it is not certain that Noureddine Chouchane is actaully dead. In all the other sources I read it, either assumed he was dead or confirmed it.
Ben Bouazza is assuming that we know that the strike took place and what happened and why the attack was formulated in the first place. He does briefly tell us about the two ther previous attacks, the one on the museum and the one on the beach. He does not assume that the attack was meant for Chouchane only. This is the job of the probe: to find those dead and see if they also were wanted to acts of terrorism or other crimes.
I also conclude that the probe is not only to descover if the wanted extermist is dead, but to identify the DNA of those dead so families in Tunisia can mourn and bury their innocent loved ones that were kiled in the strike. A sign of recognition to the fact that this was more than unexplainable collatoral damage is that they have added more security on the border of Libya and Tunisia to try to calm the chaos that has arisen.