The Tunisian Combatant Group ( ar, الجماعة التونسية المقاتلة, ''Jama’a Combattante Tunisienne''; french: Groupe Combattant Tunisien) or TCG was a loose network of terrorists with connections to

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

that was founded in 2000 and aspired to install an Islamist government in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. According to the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

(UNSC), TCG is believed to have had terrorist cells in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. By the 2010s, after its founders had been arrested and a long period of silence, it was not clear whether the group still existed.

History

The TCG was founded in 2000 by Tarek Ben Habib Maaroufi and Seifallah Ben Hassine, in close cooperation with al-Qaeda. The group aimed to establish an Islamic state in Tunisia that would be ruled according to

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

. The strategy of the TCG was determined during a meeting in

Khost Khōst ( ps, خوست) is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram in ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, where it declared its support for

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

. Most of its members were trained in al-Qaeda-linked camps in Afghanistan, and it later organised training for new recruits in the camps. It has been described as an offshoot of the formerly banned

Ennahda Movement The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia. Fou ...

. A number of the detainees held in

extrajudicial Extrajudicial punishment is a punishment for an alleged crime or offense which is carried out without legal process or supervision by a court or tribunal through a legal proceeding. Politically motivated Extrajudicial punishment is often a fea ...

detention in the United States

Guantanamo Bay detainment camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

s in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

remain in detention, in part, because American intelligence analysts allege that they were members of TCG. Maaroufi was arrested by Belgian authorities in December 2001, and in 2004 was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Since 2004 the TCG did not have capabilities to operate in Tunisia, and consequently moved their base to the

Tunisian diaspora The Tunisian diaspora refers to people of Tunisian origin living outside that country. It is the direct result of the strong rate of emigration which Tunisia has experienced since its independence in 1956. In the 1960s and 70s, the favourable econom ...

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. Hassine was arrested by Turkish authorities in 2003, after which he was extradited to Tunisia, where he was sentenced to 43 years imprisonment. Following the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

and the

Tunisian Revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...

in 2011, Hassine was released from prison as part of a general amnesty and went on to found the militant

Ansar al-Sharia Ansar al-Sharia or Ansar al-Shariah is a name used by a collection of radical or militant Islamist groups or militias, in at least eight countries. While they share names and ideology, they lack a unified command structure. *Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen) ...

group. The TCG is considered inactive due to the arrest of its founders, Maaroufi and Hassine. There are no figures for the number of members that were in the TCG, but the Ansar al-Sharia is thought to have up to 40,000 members.

European branches

The TCG had branches in several European countries. The Italian branch of the organisation was led by Sami ben Khemais Essid, and was dismantled by law enforcement in April 2001. Essid's group was connected to the "Frankfurt group," which was responsible for the Strasbourg Cathedral bombing plot in December 2000. Also in December of 2000, the Tunisian Combatant Group was suspected of plotting to attack the United States, Algerian, and Tunisian embassies in Rome. Several members of the TCG in Italy were convicted for terror-related activities in 2003. The Belgian branch of the TCG was led by Maaroufi, and was responsible for organizing the travel to Afghanistan of the two terrorists who assassinated the anti-Taliban Afghan political leader

Ahmad Shah Massoud ) , branch = Jamiat-e Islami / Shura-e Nazar Afghan Armed Forces United Islamic Front , serviceyears = 1975–2001 , rank = General , unit = , commands = Mujahideen commander during the Soviet–Afghan Wa ...

on 9 September 2001. The perpetrators were two suicide bombers who were members of the TCG that posed as journalists. In connection to the murder, TCG founder Tarek Maaroufi was arrested and charged with giving assistance, in the form of passports and stolen visas, to the two bombers. The Belgian branch has since also been dismantled. Kamel ben Moussa, an official of the group was arrested in the United Kingdom on 18 December 2001.

Foreign Relations

Designation as a terrorist organization

Countries and organizations below have officially listed the Tunisian Combat Group as a terrorist organization.

References

{{reflist, 30em Rebel groups in Tunisia Jihadist groups Islamism in Tunisia 2000s in Tunisia Groups affiliated with al-Qaeda Organizations based in Africa designated as terrorist Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States Islamic terrorism in Italy Islamic terrorism in Belgium Islamic terrorism in the United Kingdom