Fifth judicial circuit of Tunis Court of First Instance delayed the trial of a terrorist cell to a later date. The case included a number of defendants, including Sami al-Sayid, who is being tried in absentia.
The defendants acknowledged of their involvement in the extremist cell and their plans to carry out a number of extremist operations in different places in the country. They also revealed, during the investigations conducted with them by the Tunisian authorities that they were planning to assassinate a number of political, media and security figures in the country.
The Tunisian Interior Ministry said in a statement that the suspects were arrested in Hergla, north of the coastal resort city of Sousse. According to the statement, the cell's members, aged between 22 and 43, used to hold "secret meetings in a mosque" and confessed to recruiting and sending 12 youths to operate within the ranks of terrorist groups abroad.
The ministry said the cell was linked to the Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda. The announcement was the seventh of its kind in less than a week. Tunisian authorities have detained over 70 people in a growing crackdown on terrorists since December 25.
Tunisia has stepped up efforts following a truck attack claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group at a Christmas market in the German capital, Berlin, on December 19. Anis Amri, a Tunisian national, was identified as the main suspect in the ramming, which killed a dozen people.