TUNIS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Two Tunisian soldiers were killed and four more were injured after a group of terrorists opened fire on them during an army patrol on Mount Samama, in Kasserine near the Algerian borders, on Monday.
The spokesperson for the defense ministry Belhassan Oueslati said that the army patrol was on a mission to sweep the area, and search for a reportedly missing shepherd from the region.
The Tunisian army received information that the shepherd, a young man named Najib Guesmi, was kidnapped by a group of terrorists.
According to the same statement, Guesmi was accompanied by a friend who escaped the kidnapping and reported the incident to the local authorities. The latter explained that the group of terrorists consisted in six individuals who were violent to both him and his friend, and that they stole his clothes and some of his sheep.
He also said that the terrorists had Kalashnikov weapons among other types of arms.
Oueslati announced that the injured soldiers were immediately transferred to the closest hospital in the region, to receive the necessary treatment.
The Samama mountain has been declared a closed military zone along with other mountains on the Algerian borders in the region of Kasserine, mid-west Tunisia. Sweeping operations have been ongoing in search for terrorist camps and shelters for the past couple of years.
Tens of Tunisian soldiers were killed in the region whether in mine explosions, or during an armed confrontation with gunmen.
