Tunisia threatens diplomatic action if Libyan forces continue firing rockets across its border

Customs officers run during bombings on the Tunisian side of the border crossing of Dehiba. Anis Mili / Reuters

TUNIS // Tunisia threatened diplomatic action yesterday if Libyan government forces fighting rebels near the Tunisian border continued firing rockets into the country, reported the state news agency.

The warning came a day after at least four rockets landed inside Tunisia, apparently fired by Libyan forces seeking to dislodge rebels from a border crossing near the Tunisian town of Dehiba, according to Reuters news agency.

Libya's three-month old war has spilled into Tunisia in recent weeks, as fighting in the western Nafusah Mountains has sent thousands of refugees fleeing across the border.

There have been several instances of Libyan ordnance falling on Tunisian territory, which Tunisia blames on forces loyal to the regime of Colonel Muammer Qaddafi.

"Although it has pledged more than once to prevent its troops from firing toward Tunisian territory, Libya's government has not respected its undertakings," said a foreign ministry source quoted yesterday by the state news agency.

Tunisia is now threatening to bring its complaint before the United Nations if Libya fails to rein in its armed forces, the state news agency said.

On Tuesday, Colonel Qaddafi's forces renewed attempts to retake the Dehiba border crossing, with a barrage of rockets that temporarily drove back rebel fighters and killed three of them, said Reuters.

The border crossing has proved a lifeline for rebel-held towns stretching over 200 kilometres along the Nafusah Mountains, allowing food, medicine and fuel to enter Libya and refugees to escape.

For Tunisia, however, maintaining open border crossings with Libya has also brought problems.

Yesterday, three suspected al Qa'eda militants from Libya traded fire with Tunisian security forces in the northern town of Rouhia, leaving two alleged militants and a Tunisian colonel dead, said Agence France-Presse citing Tunisian security officials.

Last Sunday, Tunisia said that it had detained an Algerian and a Libyan allegedly carrying explosives and suspected of belonging to al Qa'eda's North African affiliate, Al Qa'eda in the Islamic Maghreb. Earlier, Tunisia had announced the arrest of two Libyans travelling from Algeria en route to Libya, allegedly carrying a homemade bomb.

Meanwhile, the threat of stray Libyan rockets has rattled nerves in Dehiba, which lies a few kilometres from the border crossing. "I'm nervous about going out on the road now, and I never get near the border when fighting is going on," said Mohamed Amri, 27, a van driver in Dehiba. "Before the crisis, I used to travel to Libya all the time."

Now Mr Amri more often finds himself ferrying Libyan passengers deep into Tunisia, he said. "Whenever there's a bombardment in Libya or at the border, people want to get as far away as possible."

Around 40,000 Libyans have fled to Tunisia, often welcomed into Tunisian homes, while Tunisian hospitals treat wounded from both sides of Libya's conflict.

Fighting in Libya can bring life to a standstill in Dehiba when rockets land nearby, Mr Amri said. "[On Tuesday], for example, the children all missed school because the schools closed." By late afternoon on Tuesday, Dehiba's hospital had treated 13 injured men mainly from the rebel-held towns of Zintan and Nalut, according to a Tunisian military official cited by Reuters.

A rebel fighter quoted by the news agency said that rebels had also scored victories against pro-Qaddafi forces attacking the Nafusah Mountains on Tuesday.

"We captured a bulldozer and a tank and a lot of ammunition. The situation is calm there and the crossing is under our control," said Jemaa, a rebel spokesman quoted by Reuters.

While there were sporadic clashes in Libya's border region, the main road into the Nafusah Mountains was in rebel hands on Tuesday, Jemaa said.

The border crossing remained under rebel control yesterday morning, according to Reuters, with a steady flow of Libyan cars entering Tunisia along with farmers bringing livestock to Tunisian markets.

Such arrivals are welcome, said Mr Amri.

"But every rocket that falls in Tunisia is an insult to Tunisian territory and the Tunisian people."