Soldiers among dead in Tunisia clashes

 Two troops killed and man described as militant dies in police raid as government grapples with protests and armed attacks, according to the Guardian.

There has been a surge in militant attacks over the past two weeks and on Friday security forces launched heavy air and artillery strikes on hideouts in the Mount Chaambi area near the Algerian border.

At the same time the opposition, angered by the assassination of two of its leading members, is seeking to topple a” moderate “government. Tens of thousands of Tunisians came out in a show of force for the ruling Ennahda party on Saturday, shouting: “No to coups, yes to elections.”

On Sunday night the opposition held a rival rally that drew more than 20,000, the largest protest since it began launching daily demonstrations last week.

Earlier on Sunday two soldiers were killed and six others wounded by a landmine that hit their tank as they searched an area in Mount Chaambi, where militants killed eight soldiers last week in the deadliest attack on Tunisian forces in decades.

In the capital, Tunis, an interior ministry official, Lotfi Hidouri, said police raided a house where militants were hiding weapons in the Kabaria district. “The police killed a terrorist and arrested five others,” he said.

Over the past week a roadside explosive device and a car bomb have targeted security forces in Tunis. They were the first such attacks to hit the capital. No one was hurt.

The opposition has accused Ennahda of being linked to or tolerating Islamist militant attacks. The party denies that and has stepped up efforts to crack down. It denounced recent attacks as terrorism.

Demonstrations swept Tunisia after the assassination of Mohamed Brahmi, a member of the Arab nationalist Popular Front party, on 25 July. The killing followed the assassination of party leader Chokri Belaid in February.

In Tunis’s Bardo square on Sunday opposition protesters chanted slogans against Ennahda and participants said their rally was a more legitimate expression of popular will. They criticized Ennahda for renting buses to bring protesters to Kasbah Square on Saturday and providing meals to the crowds, which the party said topped 150,000 people.

“With our large crowds we say to Ennahda that we are able to shake your government, which is more dictatorial than Ben Ali, and we will sweep you out of Tunis,” said Amal, waving a red Tunisian flag.

“We have gathered in our tens of thousands tonight without using buses or food … and on Wednesday we will see the protest that ends Islamist rule.”

The opposition is planning a mass protest on Wednesday to mark the six-month anniversary of Belaid’s assassination.

Amid rising pressure for the government to resign, security forces are trying to step up the fight against Islamist militants.

M.D