Female jihadist suicide bomber blows herself and her baby daughter up in Tunisia

Jihadi bride suicide bomber blows herself and her baby daughter up with an explosives belt as security forces moved in after they killed her extremist husband in Tunisia

  • Foreign jihadist blew herself up in a known jihadist hideout in south west Tunisia
  • Another jihadist was also killed in a security operation in the region on Thursday
  • Tunisia has been in a state of emergency over IS attacks since June 2015

A suspected foreign jihadist blew herself and her little girl up with an explosives belt as security forces closed in in mountains of central Tunisia, the interior ministry said on Friday. 

The child she was carrying died on the spot and another small girl was wounded when the woman detonated the belt on Thursday. 

She chose to detonate the suicide belt after security forces killed her husband in the raid in the remote Mount Selloum area of Kasserine near the Algeran border, a known jihadist hideout. 

The bombing took place in the remote remote Mount Selloum area of Kasserine near the Algeran border, a known jihadist hideout

A suspected foreign jihadist blew herself and her little girl up with an explosives belt as security forces closed in in mountains of central Tunisia (pictured, suspected IS members in Al-Hol camp in northern Syria)

A suspected foreign jihadist blew herself and her little girl up with an explosives belt as security forces closed in in mountains of central Tunisia (pictured, suspected IS members in Al-Hol camp in northern Syria)

Another Islamic extremist was also killed in a security operation in the region on Thursday, the ministry added. 

Hamdi Dhouib, a senior member of the outlawed Jund al-Khalifa, a group linked to the Islamic State (IS), was ‘eliminated’ by a national guard and army operation in Mount Mghila, also in Kasserine. 

The Jund al-Khalifa brigade pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and is believed to be behind several attacks in Tunisia in recent years.   

The woman chose to detonate the suicide belt after security forces killed her husband in the raid (pictured, women and children wait to leave Al-Hol camp in Syria)

The woman chose to detonate the suicide belt after security forces killed her husband in the raid (pictured, women and children wait to leave Al-Hol camp in Syria)

A senior member of the outlawed Jund al-Khalifa, a group linked to the Islamic State (IS), was 'eliminated' by a national guard and army operation in Mount Mghila, also in Kasserine (pictured, IS fighters hold the group's flat in Syria in 2013)

A senior member of the outlawed Jund al-Khalifa, a group linked to the Islamic State (IS), was ‘eliminated’ by a national guard and army operation in Mount Mghila, also in Kasserine (pictured, IS fighters hold the group’s flat in Syria in 2013)

Tunisia has faced several jihadist attacks after its 2011 revolution, with dozens of security personnel, civilians and foreign tourists killed.

It has kept in place a state of emergency, renewed twice-yearly, since a deadly 2015 attack on a presidential guard bus claimed by IS. 

Also in 2015, IS claimed an attack which left 38 tourists, among them 30 Brits, in an eastern Tunisian hotel in Sousse. 

In the attack, two gunmen opened fire at a beach resort at the Hotel Imperial Marhaba.   

Tunisia has faced several jihadist attacks after its 2011 revolution, with dozens of security personnel, civilians and foreign tourists killed. It has kept in place a state of emergency, renewed twice-yearly, since a deadly 2015 attack on a presidential guard bus claimed by IS

Tunisia has faced several jihadist attacks after its 2011 revolution, with dozens of security personnel, civilians and foreign tourists killed. It has kept in place a state of emergency, renewed twice-yearly, since a deadly 2015 attack on a presidential guard bus claimed by IS

British troops were sent to assist the Tunisia military’s efforts to prevent IS fighters entering from war-torn neighbour Libya in 2016. 

The British army helped train Tunisian forces in border security methods. 

In 2015, the Tunisian government announced it had built a 104 mile-long fence along its border with Libya to help prevent jihadists illegally crossing and to prevent arms sales.  

British troops were sent to assist the Tunisia military's efforts to prevent IS fighters entering from war-torn neighbour Libya in 2016 (pictured, a woman and a child walk in Syria's Al-Hol camp)

British troops were sent to assist the Tunisia military’s efforts to prevent IS fighters entering from war-torn neighbour Libya in 2016 (pictured, a woman and a child walk in Syria’s Al-Hol camp)