Chaambi Operations

Chaambi Operations or  Battle of Chaambi part of Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present). In December 2012, the Tunisian Army launched an offensive against the Salafist jihadists in Jebel ech Chambi near Kasserine.

2012
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2013
On June 6, a Tunisian vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Doghra in Jebel Chambi: Two soldiers were killed and two others wounded. According to the Tunisian government, jihadists belonging to militias Uqba ibn Nafaâ, an al-Qaida cell in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Ansar al-Sharia. The latter group, led by Seifallah Ben Hassine, known as "Abu Iyadh" however say they have no connection with the clashes delivered Jebel Chambi

On 18 July, in the wilaya of El Oued, the Algerian army intercepts a pickup truck loaded with weapons from Libya to Jebel Chambi; two of its occupants were killed.

July 29, around 6 pm, a group of Tunisian soldiers ambushed in Sabaa Diar, in Jebel Chambi. Their truck was strafed by some thirty rebels Salafists, several soldiers being disarmed and executed eight soldiers were killed and three others injured, one fatally, several bodies being slaughtered. According to Mohamed Ali Aroui, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Gadhgadhi Kamel, suspected of being the murderer of Chokri Belaid man, took part in the slaughters. The same day at Talla an army vehicle hit a mine, wounding three men

On the evening of August 1, the Tunisian army launched an offensive on the Djebel Chambi with ground forces and air force, saying combat katiba Uqbah Ibn Nafaâ. The clashes come during the night of August 3 to 4 would have a dozen rebels dead. On August 4, a Tunisian military vehicle hit a mine: a soldier was killed and seven wounded. One of the soldiers died of his wounds the following day, bringing to fourteen the number of military and Tunisian national guard officers killed in Jebel Chambi since December 2012

On August 5, three insurgents fleeing the mountain killed by Algerian forces deployed to the border in the region of Bir el-Ater, in Tébessa.

On 6 August, the interior minister, Lotfi Ben Jeddou says that 140 Salafists took part in the fighting in the Jebel Chambi and that 46 of them were captured.

Four jihadists were killed on the evening of August 7.

On August 11, four jihadists were killed and four others captured

On August 27, the Tunisian government, which includes Ennahda, the Congress for the Republic, Ettakatol accuses Ansar al-Sharia to be linked to al-Qaeda and of being responsible for political assassinations and attacks in the Jebel Chambi. Ansar al-Sharia then classified by the government as a terrorist organization.

On 1 September, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, Mohamed Ali Aroui says that Salafist rebels entrenched in the Jebel are no more than thirty. According to two prisoners interviewed, fifteen of these fighters are Algerians, the others would Malians, Mauritanians and Tunisians

On September 2, a statement to Ennahdha, AQIM said he had no connection with the fighting in Jebel Chambi, and says he respects Ayman al-Zawahiri an instruction not to target governments born of the Arab revolutions

On September 25, the Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou says fourteen Islamist Ansar al-Sharia and AQIM, which Kamel Gadhgadhi, are still active in Jebel Chambi and fourteen others in Samama. He argues that these insurgents are known by police and twelve of them are Algerians. He also believes that Seifallah Ben Hassine has probably fled to Libya

In early October, according to an Algerian jihadist prisoner captured in Illizi, 17 men were sent as reinforcements from Libya on the orders of Djamel Okasha.

On the night of October 11 to 12, a unit of the anti-terrorism brigade storms on a house in Kasserine after learning that Mourad Gharsalli descended the mountain to visit his family. However, the attack fails and, after an hour of shooting that partially destroyed the house, jihadists manage to escape. The military did grab a phone and some ammunition.

In November, the Tunisian army carries out several bombings in Jebel Chambi, including the November 12 to 13, 20 to 21, and the 26th December 2, a mine exploded north of Jebel Chambi: a Special Forces officer Captain Youssef Dridi, was killed and another injured.

On 21 and 22 December, eight people suspected of being connected with the jihadists are arrêtés33 Chambi. After identifying suspicious movements, the Tunisian army bombed the Jebel on the night of December 27 to 28, that from December 31 to January 1 and January 4

2014
February 1, 2014, three persons including a "terrorist" and two "accomplices" accused of funding insurgents Salafists were arrested by the Tunisian National Guards in Jebel Chambi. Further north, five others are captured in Jendouba; This is according to the Ministry of Interior they areof members of a cell involved in the supply of jihadists in Jebel Chaambi

The army carried out new bombing on 4 and 6 February. 7, a Moroccan jihadist described as "hungry" and in "a state of extreme exhaustion", was arrested near the Algerian border; he tried to flee the Djebel Chambi where climatic conditions are harsh due to heavy snowfall

April 16, 2014, the Tunisian army sent reinforcements to the Djebel Chambi, which is declared a "closed military zone". All access to the mountain were sealed off by the Tunisian and Algerian armies. 10,000 soldiers were involved in the operation

On the morning of April 18, after an exchange of fire between Tunisian soldiers and insurgents, a vehicle of the Tunisian army hit a mine near Henchir Talla, inside the closed military zone. The driver was killed and three other soldiers were wounded. Between 18 and 22, two jihadists were killed, and the charred body of a third fighter, probably killed by bombing the previous day, is also found. April 23, clashes are taking place outside of the closed military zone, in an industrial area on the road to Kasserine, in Kef. On the 24th in the morning, F-5 aircraft bomb the mountain, with support of helicopters.

On May 1, the Tunisian army regains control of Jebel Chambi without encountering resistance, Tunisian flags were planted on four peaks of the mountain. The jihadists are believed to have fallen back on the Jebel Salloum which is bombed by aircraft and artillery. According to security sources the newspaper Le Maghreb, 70% of the total area of the mountain is under control of the Tunisian army

On May 5, security units Kasserine stop eight people suspected of providing logistical support to insurgents Chaambi. According to the Ministry lIIntérieur, they provided with food, phone chips, cameras, money, ammunition and gave them information about the movements of the security forces. The same day, in the military zone closed Chaambi, Tunisian soldiers opened fire on two men who refused to obey the summons of the soldiers; one of them managed to escape, the other was killed. According to the Ministry of Defence, the last person named Ben Ali Mabrouk Yahyaoui was wanted and military equipment and a large amount of ammunition was found on site. The second man is finally caught and captured while trying to hide in a house. other version of the story is disputed by other sources who claim that Ali Ben Mabrouk Yahyaoui was killed while he was alone and that he was not wanted for business flights and had no connection with jihadists

On May 6, President Moncef Marzouki visit Jebel Chambi and promises amnesty to insurgents who are willing to render,in condition they have not committed any crimes, "We decided at the last Security Council that there will have an amnesty and reconciliation for those who do not have their hands soiled with blood. Those still have a place in our people. "On May 7, Atef Boughatas, governor of Kasserine, said that the reserve of Djebel Chambi has been "cleansed" of all its mines. On May 8, the Tunisian army had taken 80% of the Djebel Chambi

On May 16, the trail to the reserve Chaambi is reopened. On 23 May, the explosion of a mine passage of a vehicle of the Tunisian army caused the death of two soldiers, four injured.

On 17 June, the prime minister Mehdi Jomaa says that security forces and the army "took control of Mount Châambi, which now is no longer a safe haven for terrorists, despite the ability of withdrawal of these reliefs to neighboring and their attempts to carry out further terrorist operations. "

July 16 to 19 h 40, two monitoring stations of the army attacked simultaneously by two groups of jihadists forming total forty to sixty men who opened fire with machine guns and rocket launchers RPG-7: Fifteen soldiers were killed and twenty injured according to the Ministry of Defence; the press service of the ministry said that "this is the heaviest record to be recorded by the army since independence in 1956." An attacker also killed in the clash. The attack was claimed by katiba Uqbah Ibn Nafaâ linked to AQIM This katiba, strong 70 to 100 fighters, divided into small groups of 25 to 30 men is controlled by Lokman Abu Sakhr.

Tunisian and Algerian armed forces will continuing their joint operations to eradicate jihadi groups.

In early August, 8000 and 6000 Algerian Tunisians soldiers are deployed on the border.

On 3 August, Islamist fighters attacked a military base in Sbeïtla, east Chambi: A soldier was killed and a civilian wounded.

On September 16, two jihadists were killed in a battle against soldiers and Tunisian National Guards. Soon after, katiba Uqbah Ibn Nafaâ leaves AQIM announced allegiance to the Islamic State