Interior Minister Jeddou has claimed that security forces killed Kamel Gadhgadhi, a senior Ansar al-Sharia member and the murderer of liberal politician Chokri Belaid, during an operation on Feb. 4 in which six other terrorists were killed and a large weapons cache was confiscated. Belaid’s widow Basma Khalfaoui said the timing of the claim was suspicious coming on the one-year anniversary of the assassination, termed Gadhgadhi a mere “tool … the weakest link in a chain of an entire terrorist organization,” and called for the arrest of those behind the attack. Jeddou also claimed that in 2013, Tunisian authorities tried 1,347 people on terrorism-related charges, and prevented over 8,000 young men and women from traveling to Syria for jihad. The Defence Ministry said bombardment is continuing in Jebel Chaambi.
