France, Tunisia Pledge to Act against Extremists: French Minister

Local Editor

France and Tunisia will cooperate in attempts to prevent citizens joining thousands of their nationals fighting alongside extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, the French Interior Minister said on Monday.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, on a visit to Tunis for talks with his counterpart Lofti Ben Jeddou, said the two discussed joint counter-terror measures against battle-hardened nationals "who could return to our countries and present a danger."

He told reporters that France and Tunisia had decided to focus on "deradicalization, the question of preventing their departure and... deepening cooperation between our security services and police on these matters."

According to official figures, some 1,000 French nationals and close to 3,000 Tunisians have already traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside extremist militias such as the so-called "Daesh" ["ISIL"] terrorist group since 2011.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team