“We have no signal that this is a sign as bigger things are to come,” said Elyes Fakhfakh, Tunisia’s Finance Minister, to IBTimes UK in Tunis. (Photo: Alfred Joyner, IBTimes UK)
“We have no signal that this is a sign as bigger things are to come,” said Elyes Fakhfakh, Tunisia’s Finance Minister, to IBTimes UK in Tunis. (Photo: Alfred Joyner, IBTimes UK)

Tunisia has been hit by a spate of suicide bombings and threats to its national security for the first time in just over a decade.

In tandem, the interim government Ennahda, led by Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Larayedh is battling to bolster its faltering economy since the Arab Spring revolution in 2011.

When IBTimes UK went to the country's capital, as well as Sousse and Monastir where the suicide bombs were detonated, we got a mixed picture on how the country views the attacks.

"We have no signal that this is a sign as bigger things are to come," said Elyes Fakhfakh, Tunisia's Finance Minister, to IBTimes UK in Tunis.

"We can't avoid this problem but [the government] thinks that this is end of terrorism, not the beginning."

Meanwhile, the director general at the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (Fipa) told us that "the police are now doing their jobs but this is after a one and half year gap."

"Initially, the police were accused of keeping the old government's interests," added Noureddine Zekri.

In Tunisia, around 700,000 young people are out of a job, many of whom are university graduates.

Meanwhile, on a survival basis, around a fifth of the 10 million Tunisia's population are said to be in extreme poverty.

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