In 2016, 245 terrorist cells dismantled and 537 people brought to justice (Hedi Majdoub)

The Interior Ministry dismantled 245 terrorist cells in 2016 and brought 537 people to justice, Interior Minister Hedi Majdoub announced on Friday.

During his hearing by the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on the channels of sending "jihadists" in conflict zones, the minister said that this figure has increased since 2013. The ministry dismantled a hundred cells in 2013, 131 in 2014 and 197 in 2015. In 2013, 339 people were also prosecuted.

According to the Minister of the Interior, the Ministry's investigations have identified 3,000 Tunisians in conflict zones, 60% in Syria and 30% in Libya. The majority of these people are men (96%). "The number of people returning from the conflict zones amounts to 800. Some 760 other Tunisians have died in these zones," Majdoub said.

For him, the number of people returning from conflict zones is around 800, including 190 in detention, 137 in police custody, 150 under house arrest and 55 have been neutralized during the Ben Guerdane events. The others are released but under supervision, Majdoub said.

The minister also pointed out that 27,371 people suspected of wanting to move to conflict zones have been banned from traveling since 2013.