AFP/Tunis

Tunisia warned of possible militant attacks during today’s landmark parliamentary election, deploying thousands of soldiers and police to guard a vote the prime minister said offers hope to the entire region.
“We know that this will be a target (for militant groups) because it is unique in the region. It brings hope,” Mehdi Jomaa told AFP during an inspection of security forces yesterday.
Tunisia’s transition to democracy since the 2011 toppling of long-time strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali “is the alternative to these people and these groups”, Jomaa added.
“They know that the success of (this election) is a threat to them, not only in Tunisia but throughout the region.”
Around 80,000 soldiers and police are being deployed to secure polls for the first election of a parliament since the uprising three years ago that inspired the Arab Spring revolutions.
Tunisia has been hailed as a beacon of hope compared with other chaos-hit countries like Libya and Egypt, where revolutions inspired from the Arab Spring toppled veteran autocrats.
But its transition has been tested at times by militant attacks blamed on Islamists long suppressed under Ben Ali, and by social unrest.
On Friday, Tunisian police killed six suspected militants, five of them women, in a raid on a house on the outskirts of the capital in which there were also children. A policeman was also killed in a gunfight before the assault.
Today’s election pits the Islamist Ennahda party—which was in power for two years after the revolution—against secular opponent Nidaa Tounes.
The main rivals will fight it out with a number of parties run by former Ben Ali stalwarts, as well as a host of leftist and Islamist groups.  
More than 5mn voters are to choose 217 deputies in an election that will be followed by a presidential vote on November 23.
Fearing possible terrorist attacks, Tunisia has also closed its border with violence-wracked Libya for three days from Friday.  
Jomaa said he was confident today’s poll would pass peacefully in spite of the rising tensions as election officials voiced concern.
He insisted that Tunisia has “a security apparatus that is growing in power and effectiveness”.




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