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Ten militants, three soldiers killed in Tunisia clashes
25/04/2015
TUNIS (Reuters) - At least 10 militants and three Tunisian soldiers have been killed in two days of clashes in the central Kasserine region near the border with Algeria, the military said on Friday.
Tunisia's army has been carrying out operations in the area since last month's attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis where gunmen killed more than 20 foreign tourists in an attack claimed by Islamic State militants.
"Ten terrorists have been killed and three soldiers are dead after clashes in the Saloum mountains in Kasserine, and this is probably not the final death toll," said army spokesman Belhassen Bouslati.
He said the operations were continuing but did not give any further details.
Since its 2011 uprising against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali swept the country to democracy, Tunisia's armed forces have been fighting a low-level Islamist militant insurgency by several armed groups.
Most attacks have focused on armed forces and police roadblocks. The Bardo massacre, where at least two gunmen killed 21 foreign tourists at the national museum, highlighted Tunisia's vulnerability to militant violence as Islamist extremists use the chaos in neighbouring Libya for shelter.
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