Tunisian troops 'on high alert' on the borders with Libya

The Tunisian army has placed troops on high alert along the border with Libya following a failed attempt to overthrow the government there.

The former spokesperson for the Tunisian Ministry of Defense, General Mokhtar Ben Nasr, said in a statement on Saturday: “the Tunisian military and security units deployed along the Tunisian south-east border – not far from the Libyan border – have entered into a state of high alert.” Ben Nasr pointed out that the procedure comes following the security developments in Libya and “in case of an influx of Libyan refugees who might flee to Tunisia especially with the proliferation of arms in Libya.” Ben Nasr described the situation in Libya as “unclear”.

The former military commander of the Libyan army, General Khalifa Haftar, announced on Saturday that he had attempted to overthrow the government in a military coup and that the Libyan government and the Libyan National Congress had frozen their work.

However, Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, denied the existence of any coup. “Haftar cannot undermine the Libyans’ will. The Libyan people are united,” he said in a statement.