Tunisia paid tribute today to 12 presidential guards killed in a jihadist bombing a year ago, as questions were raised over a state of emergency still in force despite improved security.
The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group claimed the attack in central Tunis as well as bombings earlier in 2015 at the Bardo National Museum and at a beach resort that killed 59 foreign tourists and a Tunisian guard.
The state of emergency has been in place since the attack, in spite of government assurances that security has improved in the north African nation.
"The security situation is (now) stable," Prime Minister Youssef Chahed told AFP earlier this month. "I would say that we are no more under threat than other countries in the world."
Tunisia, which relies heavily on money generated from tourism, last witnessed a major security incident in March, when dozens of jihadists assaulted state security installations in a town near the border with strife-torn Libya.
That attack killed 13 security forces members and seven civilians, but authorities praised the army and police response which resulted in the deaths of at least 55 jihadists.
A relative calm has since taken hold, and former prime minister Habib Essid in July hailed the first time the Muslim holy month of Ramadan passed without a jihadist incident in Tunisia since 2012.
"We have invested heavily in military equipment and also in human resources to keep the country secure," Chahed said.
European countries and the United States have stepped up cooperation, and President Beji Caid Essebsi has confirmed the presence of 60-70 US instructors for surveillance drones along the Libyan border.
A security official however insisted that the continued state of emergency was justified.
"Terrorist elements are still moving around in the mountains of the west (bordering Algeria) even though the noose is tightening and a certain number of their leaders have been killed," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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