For the first time, troops in Tunisia are to be deployed to protect key industrial sites against protests, sit-ins and strikes. Announcing the deployment, President Beji Caid Essebsi said the troops would protect industrial sites being disrupted by general strikes and protests over poverty. "We know this is a serious decision but it must be taken," Essebsi said in a speech in Tunis on Wednesday. "The state must also protect the resources of the Tunisian people." A nationwide state of emergency has been in effect in Tunisia since November 2015 following a suicide attack that killed 12 presidential guards.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 11, 2017 10:41 UTC