US to fund multi-million-dollar Tunisia border surveillance

Tunisian security forces check vehicles near the customs post at the Ras Jedir border crossing with Libya, south of the town of Ben Guerdane, on March 22, 2016 after it was reopened after a two-week closure (AFP)

AFP, Tunis Saturday, 26 March 2016

The United States has agreed to fund a multi-million-dollar project to install an electronic security surveillance system on Tunisia's border with strife-torn Libya, the US embassy said Friday.

In a statement, the diplomatic mission said that the US was disbursing the first installment of the $24.9 million project to strengthen security along the frontier.

The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) awarded the contract to American construction group BTP and consulting and engineering firm AECOM, a diplomatic source told AFP.

According to the embassy, the project involves the installation of an integrated surveillance system using sensors and regular security equipment.

The project includes training Tunisian forces to use the system, the statement added, without giving a start or completion date.

Tunisia has built a 200-kilometre (125-mile) barrier that stretches about half the length of its border with Libya in an attempt to prevent militants from infiltrating.

A series of deadly attacks by ISIS on foreign holidaymakers last year, which have dealt a devastating blow to the country's tourism industry, are believed to have been planned from Libya.