ConflictBarometer_2016

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
entering the country. Throughout the year, the country was
under a state of emergency. It had first been imposed on
11/24/15 and was extended six times, lastly on October 18.
On January 21, IS released a video, calling for action in Tunisia
and Morocco similar to the 2015 Paris attack. Six days later,
authorities broke up an IS-affiliated cell in the capital Tunis,
which recruited members for the IS in Libya and Syria in
Bizerte, eponymous governorate. On February 19, Noureddine
Chouchance, suspected of having carried out the attack
on the Bardo Museum in Tunis on 18/03/15, was allegedly
killed in a US airstrike on an IS training camp in Libya. On
March 2, clashes near the Libyan border in Ben Guerdane,
Médenine Governorate, killed five Islamist militants and one
soldier. Five days later, IS and Ansar al-Sharia militants seized
a mosque and attacked military barracks and police posts in
Ben Guerdane, attempting to take over the town and establish
an Emirate. According to the National Defense Ministry, fighting
between militants and security forces left 45 militants, 13
security forces, as well as seven civilians dead and another
six people injured. IS-affiliated websites stated that members
of the group had been engaged in the attack. In reaction
to the attack, which was the most fatal of the year, the Interior
Ministry announced a night-time curfew. Additionally,
authorities closed the border to Libya. The same day, the military
responded with a series of raids in Ben Guerdane that left
at least thirteen militants and one soldier dead. On March 22,
police forces broke up another IS-linked cell in Ben Guerdane,
which reportedly recruited militants for fighting in Libya. In
two separate raids on May 11, at least two suspects and four
policemen were killed and sixteen suspected militants arrested
in Ettadamen, north of Tunis, and in Tatouine, eponymous
governorate. On May 19, the National Defense Ministry
announced that the military had killed Abou al-Qaaqaa,
head figure of the Tunisian IS-branch Jund al-Khilafa, in an
operation in the region of Mount Mghilla located between
the governorates of Kasserine and Sidi Bouzid. The government
claimed they had dismantled a cell on July 20, which
was linked to the IS and planned an attack in Sousse. One
week later, clashes between the conflict parties left two militants
and one soldier dead in Om Al-Hani village, Jendouba
Province. On November 5, Jund al-Khilafa militants killed a
soldier in his house in Kasserine, eponymous governorate.
Three days later, the military killed one suspect in the area of
Mount Mghilla.
Between November 12 and 14, the military seized arms and
ammunition caches linked to Jund al-Khilafa in Ben Guerdane.
On December 23, security forces arrested three men,
suspected to be linked to the Berlin Christmas market attack,
for which IS had claimed responsibility. In December, the Interior
Ministry stated that they had dismantled 160 militant
cells and arrested around 860 terrorists during the first ten
months of the year, including those belonging to AQIM [→
Algeria, Mali et al. (AQIM et al.)].
In their fight against IS, the government completed the building
of a 200 km barrier along the Libyan border on February 6.
Furthermore, they received international support for fighting
IS. On November 23, President Beji Caid Essebsi confirmed
that US drones were monitoring IS activities at the Tunisian-
Libyan border. On December 23, the government reported
that about 800 jihadist fighters had returned to Tunisia from
foreign battlefields since 2007, while approx. 3,000 had
joined ranks in Libya, Syria, and Iraq. (wih, maw)
TURKEY
In Turkey, IS conducted several suicide bomb attacks in the
provinces Ankara, Istanbul and Gaziantep. Throughout the
year, police and gendarmerie forces arrested hundreds of
suspected IS militants across the country during police raids
and counter-terrorism operations. On August 24, the Turkish
Armed Forces (TAF) supported by Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants
started the cross-border operation ''Euphrates Shield”
with the aim to clear the border region from IS militants and
to prevent the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from
forming an area under Kurdish control in northern Syria.
On January 12, an IS suicide bomber killed twelve people,
including ten German tourists, while injuring 15 at Sultanahmet
Square of Istanbul city, Istanbul Province. On March 19,
another IS suicide bomber killed four people and injured 36
more, on one of the most prominent shopping promenades
of Istanbul, the Istiklal Street. Among the killed were three
Israeli citizens as well as one Iranian national. On May 1,
three IS militants shot at police officers guarding the main
police headquarters in Gaziantep, eponymous province, and
fled the scene when police shot back. When a second car
with an IS suicide bomber exploded, two police officers were
killed and 22 injured, including four civilians. During a police
raid in Gaziantep on March 20, an IS member blew himself
up. He was suspected of being involved in the May 1 attack
as well as the 2015 Suruc and Ankara attacks that had killed
134 people. On June 28, three IS suicide bombers attacked
Istanbul's Ataturk airport, shooting with automatic weapons
at security personnel and passengers before detonating their
explosive devices. At least 41 people were killed and 230
injured. Another IS suicide attack occurred during a wedding
ceremony in the Sahinbey district of Gaziantep on August
20, killing 57 civilians and injuring over 80. On October 16,
police officers conducted several raids against IS militants in
Gaziantep. During the raids, two IS suicide bombers detonated
their explosives in Besyuzevler and Gazikent suburbs.
The first explosion killed three police officers and injured at
least nine. During another raid in Ankara Province, police officers
shot an IS member dead, suspected of planning attacks
in the capital Ankara on October 19. Furthermore, IS militants
repeatedly attacked the border-province Kilis in Turkey from
Aleppo Governorate, Syria, with Grad rockets, killing at least
20 people throughout the year. In April, about 30,000 residents
were displaced due to rockets attacks. In retaliation,
TAF conducted cross-border artillery fire, killing at least 35 IS
fighters in Aleppo. (yal)
YEMEN
In Yemen, IS concentrated its attacks on the southern city
of Aden, in the eponymous governorate, while there were
also incidents in the city of al-Mukalla, Hadramawt Governorate
and al-Khalf, Lahij Governorate. Suicide bombings
mainly targeted security staff and officials of the government
of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
On January 28 and 29, two suicide car bombers attacked security
checkpoints in Aden's northern Crater district. The first
attack near the presidential palace killed at least eight people
and injured 15. The second explosion killed at least two and
injured five people. IS Wilayat Hadramawt released a video
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