A number of Tunisian terrorists have been intercepted as they were planning to infiltrate to Libya to join terrorist groups there, a statement by the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior said.

The National Guard units in Medenine intercepted 11 Tunisian men and a woman in Al-Shahbania district near the border city of Ben Gardane as they were on a public transport bus; the Tunisian News Agency quoted sources from Tunisia’s Ministry of the Interior as saying.

It added that intelligence reports revealed that the 12 terrorists came from Sfax and were planning to go to Libya to join extremist groups there.

The terrorists admitted, after preliminary interrogations, that they were keen on infiltrating to Libya with the help of a Tunisian smuggler, who promised that a Tunisian person residing inside Libya would receive them upon arrival.

Last week, The Ministry of the Interior in the Salvation Government handed over eight Tunisian extremists to the Tunisian authorities in Ras Ajdir border.

Official sources have recently unveiled reports that say almost five thousand Tunisian fighters are now part of terrorist organizations in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, indicating that around a thousand others have joined the so-called IS in Libya.