Africa News

Tunisia threatens "measures" against Libya over cross-border attack

May 18, 2011, 10:00 GMT

Tunis - Tunisia has threatened to take 'strict measures' against Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi's regime after shells fired by Libyan forces landed on Tunisian soil, local media reported Wednesday.

Tunisian media quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying the 'continuation of these dangerous violations committed by Libyan forces' had a 'very negative impact' on Tunisian-Libyan relations and threatened to refer the matter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Dozens of shells have landed near the border post of Dahiba in southern Tunisia over the past 24 hours, an eyewitness told the German Press Agency dpa.

The witness said no-one had been injured by the artillery fire, because the shells fell in an unpopulated area.

The Foreign Ministry said it had charged Tunisia's ambassador to Tripoli to officially protest the violations, which come under a month after several trucks of Libyan government forces made an incursion into Tunisia in pursuit of rebels.

At least one Tunisian resident was hurt on that occasion, when Libyan shells landed on Dahiba.

Tunisia, which was the first north African country to stage a revolution in December and January that ousted its longtime president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, has borne the brunt of attempts by Libyan rebels to overthrow Gaddafi.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting to Tunisia, where many are still living in camps near the border or being put up by local residents.

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