Tunisia president says US drones fly over Libya border

By Rashid al-Jarrai

TUNIS

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has confirmed the U.S. was flying surveillance drones along border with war-torn Libya.

In a television interview late Tuesday, Essebsi said the U.S. had flown unmanned drones for reconaissance operations along Tunisian-Libyan border.

“[The move] is part of military cooperation with the U.S. with a view to fighting terrorism in the region,” he said, adding that 70 U.S. officer were training their counterparts in the Tunisian army.

The Tunisian leader, however, denied the presence of U.S. airbases on Tunisian territories.

“Reports about U.S. military bases on Tunisian lands are groundless,” he said.

Media reports earlier said Washington had used a military base in Tunisia to fly drones for monitoring Libyan border.

Tunisian Defense Minister Farhat Horchani earlier said his country had received reconaissance drones from Washington as part of military cooperation between the two countries.

In May, Washington provided $20 million in military aid to Tunisia, two months after the eastern town of Ben Guerdane came under attack by militants coming from war-torn Libya.