BEYOND SYRIA IRAQ

AARON Y. ZELIN
more space and legitimacy for the Tunisian military to kill and flush out the
remaining IS elements from the city. Allegedly, residents even began throwing
stones at IS fighters. 22 This was a shock to IS, since Ben Gardane was infamous
for the number of foreign fighters who had joined up with IS and its
predecessors there in the past. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi even supposedly stated
that, “if Ben Gardane had been located next to Fallujah, we would have liberated
Iraq.” But the failed takeover of Ben Gardane was a surprise and disappointment,
which further degraded IS’s network in Tunisia and its support
command in Libya. Afterward, Manita and Chouchane were dead, Abdelkaoui
and Fezzani had been arrested, and Gandhri was on the run.
CONCLUSION
Tunisia has been in the crosshairs of the Islamic State. Not only has IS conducted
operations against its security infrastructure and terrorist attacks on
tourists to cripple its economy; it has also sought to take over Tunisian sovereign
territory. While Tunisia has degraded IS’s ability to conduct terrorist
attacks and thwarted its attempted takeover of Ben Gardane, the jihadist
group is very adaptive. Furthermore, many Tunisians are still within IS’s
ranks in Libya. What happens now that IS’s territory in Libya has dissipated
will provide answers to the questions of how this could affect the trajectory
of the Tunisian contingent and what it hopes to accomplish back in its home
country. This is likely not the last we have heard from IS in Tunisia.
NOTES
1. Andrew Lebovich and Aaron Y. Zelin, “Alleged Brahmi Killer: Tracing Ties between
Aboubaker el-Hakim, Ansar al-Sharia, and Al-Qaeda,” Tunisia Live, July 26, 2013,
http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/07/26/brahmi-bealid-and-militantism-in-tunisia.
2. Islamic State, “Message to the People of Tunisia,” al-I’tisam Media, December 17, 2014.
3. Islamic State, “Akhbar al-Yawm: al-Jumuah, 21 Jumadi al-Akhirah 1436 H,” Idhaat
al-Bayan, April 9, 2015.
4. Abu Jihad al-Jazairi, “On the Martyrdom of the Brother Abd al-Jabar Abu Zanad,”
Ajnad al-Khilafah bi-Ifriqiya Media, April 21, 2015, and “About the Jebel al-Salloum
Operation,” Ajnad al-Khilafah bi-Ifriqiya Media, April 22, 2015.
5. Islamic State, “Akhbar al-Yawm: Al-Sabt, 13 Rajab 1436 H,” Idhaat al-Bayan, May
2, 2015.
6. Wilayat Tunis Media Office, “Tunisia: Monitoring the Presence of Security and
Armored Vehicles in the Capital,” June 2, 2015.
7. Islamic State, “The Destruction of Dozens of the President’s Security in a Martyr-
22