Militant Incidents in Tunisia (2012)

1. Jan. 14 – A civilian was killed and another one was wounded when their car was raked with gunfire by militants from Libya near the town of Ben Guerdane, in the Médenine governorate. [TL]
2. Feb. 01 – Islamist terrorists opened fire at policemen who tried to stop their vehicle in Birali Ben Khalifa, in the governorate of Sfax, wounding five officers. Two of the militants were eliminated in retaliatory gunfire. [Reut, TAP & TL]
3. Feb. 20 – Two officers were stabbed and injured by Islamist thugs after the policemen tried to mediate during an altercation between the extremists and promo girls of a mobile telephone company in the city of Jendouba. [TL]
4. Feb. 20 – Thugs ransacked and subsequently burnt an office of a labor union in the town of Feriana, in the Kasserine governorate, causing only damage. [TL]
5. Feb. 22 – Hundreds of Islamist extremists set fire to a police station and an office of the nationalist CPR party in the city of Jendouba. Another police station was burnt by assailants in the city’s Houailia suburb. As security forces dispersed the assailants, they were attacked with sticks, swords and firebombs. [Pr, Reut & TL]
6. Mar. 11 – A cleric associated with the Tablighi Islamic missionary movement was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants as he was walking to a mosque in the Montplaisir neighborhood of Tunis. [TL]
7. Apr. 07 – Five fuel traders were abducted by a group of unidentified Libyan gunmen from Aguel, in the Médenine governorate. [TL]
8. Apr. 21 – A secular social activist and several of his followers were assaulted and injured when Islamist extremists attacked their meeting in Souk Lahad, in the Kébili governorate. [HRW]
9. May 04 – A Sufi Muslim shrine was destroyed with a bulldozer by a group of Salafi Islamist thugs in the Gabès governorate. [TL]
10. May 07 – A student was wounded in an assault by about twenty Salafi Islamist thugs at a café in the city center of Kef. Later that day, another student was stoned and injured by Islamists on a nearby street. [Pr]
11. May 08 – A student was assaulted and injured by approximately thirty Salafi Islamist thugs as he was guiding French tourists in the city center of Kef. [Pr]
12. May 19 – Salafi Islamist thugs ransacked cafés in the city of Sidi Bouzid. A brewery depot was set on fire by the attackers. [Pr]
13. May 25 – A social activist who had earlier participated in disrupting the occupation of a basilica by fundamentalists was assaulted and wounded by Salafi Islamist thugs on a street in the city of Kef. [HRW]
14. May 25 – Assailants set fire to the local government headquarters and the residence of a local official during rowdy demonstrations by jobless youths in the town of Sakièt Sidi Youssef, in the Kef governorate. [Pr & TAP]
15. May 26 – Hundreds of Salafi Islamist thugs threw firebombs at the local police headquarters during a rowdy protest rally in the city of Jendouba. The attackers subsequently ransacked and burnt several bars. [AP, Pr, RFi & TAP]
16. May 27 – Salafi Islamist assailants raided and subsequently burnt a police station in the town of Ghardimaou, in the Jendouba governorate. [Pr]
17. Jun. 10 – An art gallery was ransacked by a mob of Salafi Islamist thugs in the Marsa suburb of Tunis. Several art works were burnt by the assailants. [TL]
18. Jun. 11 – A mob of Islamist extremists ransacked and later set fire to a police post in the Marsa suburb of Tunis. Nobody was hurt in the incident. [AP & TAP]
19. Jun. 11 – A police kiosk was looted and set ablaze by a group of Islamist thugs in the Kram suburb of Tunis. No casualties were reported in the incident [AP & TAP]
20. Jun. 11 – A courthouse and a police vehicle were set on fire by a band of Islamist extremists in Tunis‘ Sijoumi suburb. [AP]
21. Jun. 12 – A group of Salafi Islamists hurled firebombs at the arts college in the city of Sousse. No one was hurt in the attack. [AP, Pr & TAP]
22. Jun. 12 – Four police stations and at least one home were set on fire by Salafi Islamist thugs in the city of Sousse. A municipal depot was ransacked by the assailants. [TAP]
23. Aug. 16 – A band of Salafi Islamist thugs raided a music festival and assaulted visitors in the city of Bizerte. At least three people were wounded in the incident. [HRW]
24. Aug. 30 – Five officers were stabbed and injured when criminal elements raided a police station in the town of Kébili. [Pr & TAP]
25. Sep. 03 – A hotel was raided and ransacked a band of Salafi Islamist thugs in the city of Sidi Bouzid. The establishment was targeted because it served alcohol. [Pr]
26. Sep. 14 – A mob of hundreds Islamists affiliated to the AST overran and set fire to part of the American embassy in the city of Tunis. The nearby American school was also burnt in the attack. More than thirty parked cars were set ablaze by thugs in the vicinity of the mission. Three of the attackers were shot dead by police personnel, while another was killed after being hit by police cars. [Mag, Pr, Reut & TAP]
27. Sep. 22 – Salafi Islamist extremists set fire to the house of an activist of the nationalist NT party in Ksar Helal, in the Monastir governorate. [Pr]
28. Oct. 16 – A Sufi Muslim mausoleum was burnt and destroyed by a band Salafi Islamist thugs in the town of Manouba. No one was hurt in the incident. [AFP, Mag, RFi, TAP & TL]
29. Oct. 18 – Salafi Islamist thugs and members of the LPR assaulted participants in a demonstration organized by the nationalist NT party in the city of Tataouine. One member of the NT party was killed in the incident. [Mag & TAP]
30. Oct. 22 – Assailants threw homemade firebombs at a paramilitary police post in the town of Ben Guerdane, in the Médenine governorate. [TAP]
31. Oct. 24 – A police station was set on fire by a band of thugs in Teboulbou, in the governorate of Gabès. The incident occurred coincided with demonstrations by angry youths. [TAP]
32. Oct. 27 – An officer was stabbed and injured by Salafi Islamist thugs as police tried to stop them from smashing the stalls of liquor traders in Douar Hicher, in the Manouba governorate. One of the vendors was also hurt in the incident. [Mag, Pr, Reut, RFi, TAP & TL]
33. Oct. 30 – A band of about 200 Salafi Muslim thugs armed with knives and swords raided a police station in Douar Hichar, in the Manouba governorate, wounding three officers. One of the assailants were shot dead in retaliatory gunfire. [AFP, Mag, TAP & TL]
34. Oct. 30 – A band of Salafi Islamist extremists set fire to several retail kiosks in the town of Manouba, causing only damage. [TL]
35. Nov. 29 – Thugs set fire to a police post and two parked cruisers during protests by people demanding the resignation of the governor in the town of Kesra, in the Siliana governorate. [Mag]
36. Nov. 30 – Two cars of the Tunisian customs department were set on fire by unidentified thugs during demonstrations in the city of Kef. [Bab & TAP]
37. Dec. 10 – A policeman was killed and a colleague was injured in a gun battle between a band of KUIN militants and security forces near the village of Derneya, in the Kasserine governorate. [Bab, Mag, Pr, Reut, TAP & TL]
38. Dec. 12 – A group of militants clashed with security forces during a shootout near Derneya, in the Kasserine governorate. No one was hurt in the incident. [Pr]
39. Dec. 13 – Criminal elements set fire to a local government office in Ramla, in the Sfax governorate. The attack occurred a day after a member of the entity was arrested by Tunisian authorities. [TAP]
40. Dec. 13 – A police post was set ablaze by a group of criminal elements in Ataya, in the governorate of Sfax. No one was injured in the attack. [TAP]
41. Dec. 20 – Thugs set fire to a paramilitary police station during rowdy demonstrations in the town of Belkhir, in the Gafsa governorate. [Bab & TAP]
42. Dec. 31 – An ancient Sufi Islamic shrine was set on fire by a band of Salafi Islamist extremists in the city of Bizerte. Nobody was hurt in the incident. [TL]
43. Dec. 31 – A Tunisian paramilitary policeman was kidnapped by gunmen from Libya near Ras Jadir, in the Médenine governorate. The hostage was released the next day after his captors shot him in the leg. [TL]

AFP: Agence France-Presse (France), AP: Associated Press (America), Bab: BabNet (Tunisia), BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation (Britain), CNN: Cable News Network (America), HRW: Human Rights Watch (America), Jaw: Jawhara FM (Tunisia), JTA: Jewish Telegraphic Agency (America), Mag: Magharabia (America), Mos: Mosaïque FM (Tunisia), MS: Mena Stream (Unknown), Pr: Presse de Tunisie (Tunisia), Reut: Reuters (Britain), RFi: Radio France International (France), TAP: Tunis Afrique Presse (Tunisia), TL: Tunisia Live (Tunisia), TT: Tunisia Times (Tunisia)