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Tunisian minister: 2,400 Tunisians fighting alongside ISIS in Syria

June 24, 2014 at 2:54 pm

Tunisian Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou said on Monday that 2,400 Tunisians had joined the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria, according to Anadolu News Agency.

Tunisian media quoted Ben Jeddou as saying: “We do not have diplomatic relations with Syria, but we collected information that about 2,400 Tunisian youths had travelled to Syria to fight with Al-Nusra Front and ISIS” against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.

In February 2012, Tunisian President Al-Moncef Al-Marzouqi expelled the Syrian ambassador in protest against the “crimes committed by Al-Assad’s regime against Syrians”.

Ben Jeddou also pointed out that his ministry had successfully prevented between 8,700 and 8,800 Tunisians from travelling to Syria, without specifying the time span.

The interior minister previously told media that 293 networks helping Tunisians travel to Syria were shut down in 2013.