Tunisia prolongs state of emergency for 1 more month

TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisian authorities have decided to prolong for another month the state of emergency declared after the November attack on elite presidential guards in the capital.

The office of President Beji Caid Essebsi said Monday that the decision was made in consultation with government and parliamentary officials.

The November suicide attack in downtown Tunis killed 12 members of the presidential guard.

The state of emergency confers exceptional powers on Tunisian authorities, notably to forbid strikes and public gatherings, close movie theatres and control the press.

Attacks in 2015, at the Bardo museum in Tunis in March and at a resort near Sousse in June, killed scores, mainly foreign tourists.

The director general of security, Amor Messaoud, announced on Sunday that 72 additional police posts were being added in tourist zones, along with 1,500 more police officers.

The tourism sector, key to Tunisia’s economy, took a blow with last year’s attacks.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, now in progress, has become a propitious period for bloody attacks, in Tunisia and elsewhere, making authorities particularly edgy. Last year’s attack at a hotel near Sousse that killed 39 tourists — claimed by the Islamic State group — happened during Ramadan.

Tunisia lifted a state of emergency last October imposed after the June resort massacre only to reimpose it in November.