Senior US military delegation to visit Tunisia this week

American generals will lay a wreath at a Second World War cemetery in capital Tunis

The US commanding general for Europe and Africa, Gen Christopher G Cavoli, will visit Tunisia this week. EPA

A senior US military delegation will be arriving in Tunisia on Wednesday for the first military-to-military visit to the country since the Biden administration took office.

The US commanding general for Europe and Africa, Gen Christopher G Cavoli, and his deputy, US commanding general for the Southern European Task Force, Maj Gen Andrew M Rohling, will be leading the delegation.

In a call with reporters on Tuesday, Gen Rohling told The National that Tunisia carries an "important focus" for US Africa Command. The schedule will include meetings with Tunisia's land army chief of staff, Gen Mohamed El Ghoul, as well as visits to training schools and the US security force assistance brigades.

Gen Cavoli called Tunisia a strong partner in counterterrorism and a major non-Nato ally. The visit will also include a stop to lay a wreath at a Second World War cemetery and memorial for US troops in Tunis.

The delegation will also visit the security force assistance brigade dispatched by the US over the last few months to help with training and counterterrorism effectiveness.

The US military has recently been increasing its focus on Africa. A senior delegation from Africa Command visited Sudan last month.

Since the revolution, the US has invested more than $1 billion in the Tunisian military, according to Africa Command.

Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy where he studies extremism and counterterrorism, described the US-Tunisian relationship as a unique success.
"The US-Tunisia counterterrorism relationship represents a success when there have been so many failures over the past two decades. [Extremist] security problems are currently at their lowest point in Tunisia since the revolution [in 2011], in part due to the partnership between Tunis and Washington," Mr Zelin told The National.

The author of Your Sons Are at Your Service: Tunisia's Missionaries of Jihad said key US assistance and missions have focused on "training Tunisia's military in its counterinsurgency campaign against militants in the mountains near Algeria, assisting with border surveillance with Libya, which has assisted with stopping the movements of extremists between the two countries."

The two countries also share intelligence on transnational movement of fighters, including Tunisians that entered the fighting in Iraq, Syria and Libya, as well as plots and attacks conducted by Tunisians in Europe.

Mr Zelin said he sees the visit as a way for the new Biden administration to continue this strong relationship.