Tunisia's parliament has been surrounded by hundreds of people, angry at the return of extremists who have fought abroad. The protest was prompted by the Berlin truck attack by Tunisian Anis Amri.
Image: Getty Images/F.Belaid
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Organizers said 1,500 people had attended Saturday's rally in the capital Tunis, many carrying banners reading "Close the doors to terrorism" and "No tolerance, no return." Protesters also waved Tunisian flags and sang the national anthem.
Activists said they were angry at the lack of government action to prevent jihadists who fought overseas from returning to the country without facing punishment.
The demonstration was held less than a day after Tunisian police said they had arrested three alleged Islamist extremists connected to Tunisian-born Anis Amri, the main suspect in Monday's Berlin Christmas market attack.
Jihadis head home
More than 5,000 Tunisians are fighting for jihadist groups abroad, mainly in Iraq, Syria or neighboring Libya, according to a UN working group on mercenaries.
Hundreds of people gathered outside Tunisia's parliamentImage: Getty Images/F.Belaid
Authorities say they have put more than 800 Tunisians under surveillance since returning home.
But protesters said the government was not doing enough to round up ex-fighters upon return to face trial.
One demonstration Faten Mejri said "for us, they are not Tunisians. They are awful people."
Protestors also hit out at the head of the Islamist Ennahda party, who has in the past supported the idea of allowing Tunisian jihadists who "repent" and renounce violence to return home.
President Beji Caid Essebsi said earlier this month that Tunisia would refuse to pardon Tunisians who fight for jihadist organizations. But he told the Agence France-Presse news agency that authorities "can't prevent a Tunisian from returning to his country."
His comments were denounced on social media and in the press.
Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia has faced repeated jihadist attacks, killing more than 100 soldiers and policemen, as well as about 20 civilians and 59 foreign tourists, according to official figures.
Amri was due to be returned
Anis Amri was shot dead by police in Milan on FridayImage: picture-alliance/Bundeskriminalamt
Intelligence agencies have warned several times that jihadists from the Middle East and North Africa may ply the migrant trail to Europe to carry out attacks.
Twenty-four-year-old Anis Amri, who had claimed asylum in Germany but who had his case rejected, ploughed a truck into revelers at a Christmas market in an upscale Berlin neighborhood on Monday, killing 12 people and wounded nearly 50 others.
On the run from German authorities, he was shot dead by police in Milan four days later.
His deportation from Germany was never enforced because of delays by Tunisia in confirming he was one of their nationals.
Amri's nephew was among three people, aged between 18 and 27, detained on Friday by Tunisian authorities, accused of being members of a "terrorist cell" connected to Amri.
The country's interior ministry said in a statement that Amri had sent money to his nephew so he could join him in Germany, and had allegedly urged him "to pledge allegiance to Daesh," referring to the Arabic name for the "Islamic State" (IS) armed group.
The unnamed nephew also claimed his uncle was the leader of a jihadist group based in Germany, known as the Abu al-Walaa brigade, it added.
mm/kl (AFP, AP)
Chronology: Terror plots in Germany
Several times over the past 18 months, police have managed to thwart terror attacks and plots in Germany, which has clearly become a target for Islamic militants in Europe. The following made the headlines:
Image: Reuters/M. Rehle
Leipzig, October 2016
Police in Leipzig arrested 22-year-old Syrian refugee Jaber al-Bakr after a two-day manhunt following the discovery of explosives and other bomb-making equipment at his apartment in Chemnitz. He was suspected of plotting to attack a Berlin airport. Two days later, he hanged himself in his prison cell.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Willnow
Ansbach, July 2016
In July, the "Islamic State" (IS) claimed responsibility for two attacks carried out by asylum seekers. 15 people were injured in a crowded wine bar next to the entrance to a music festival in the Bavarian town of Ansbach after a rejected Syrian asylum seeker detonated an explosive device. The man killed himself in the attack.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/D. Karmann
Würzburg, July 2016
A 17-year-old asylum seeker wielding an axe and a knife went on a rampage on a regional train near Würzburg, seriously injuring four members of a tourist family from Hong Kong and a passer-by. The attacker was shot dead by police. German authorities said the teenager was believed to be a "lone wolf" inspired by the IS, but without being a member of the network.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Hildenbrand
Düsseldorf, May 2016
Three suspected members of the "Islamic State" terror network were arrested in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Baden Württemberg. Authorities say two of the men planned to blow themselves up in downtown Düsseldorf, while the other attacker and a fourth jihadist arrested in France planned to target pedestrians with guns and explosive devices.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hitij
Essen, April 2016
Police arrested three people over a bomb blast that injured three people in a Sikh temple in Essen. The bomb detonated after a wedding party, blowing out windows and destroying a part of the building's exterior. A 16-year-old suspect turned himself in after police showed footage of the attack from a surveillance camera and special police units arrested another young suspect in his parents' home.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kusch
Hanover, February 2016
German-Moroccan Safia S. is charged with stabbing a police officer at the main train station in the northern city of Hanover. The 16-year-old girl is suspected of having been "motivated by members of the Islamic State group in Syria to commit this act," chief prosecutor Simon Heinrichs said.
Image: Polizei
Berlin, February 2016
In separate raids across the country, police arrested three Algerians suspected of links to the "Islamic State" militant group and of having planned a terrorist attack in Berlin. The Berlin prosecutor's office said prosecutors were aware of a "concrete" plan to target the capital.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Oberursel, April 2015
The Eschborn-Frankfurt City loop bike race was called off after German police discovered it may have been the target of an Islamist terror attack. A 35-year-old German with a Turkish background and his 34-year-old wife were arrested on suspicion of planning the attack. Police found bomb-making materials in their home near the bike route.
