TUNIS — Tunisia declared on Thursday aborting a “terrorist plot” intended to target the nation’s vital tourism sector and state sites.

The Ministry of Interior said in a statement the personnel of the unit probing terrorist crimes carried out a pre-emptive operation foiling “terrorist schemes set tot target the tourism sector and sovereign headquarters.”

The mastermind of the plot has been apprehended, the Ministry statement added. The detainee confessed, during interrogations, to belonging to “the terrorist Daesh (so-called IS) group.”

He told interrogators that he recruited a number of “takfiris as a prelude to carrying out his long term schemes.” The group had monitored potential targets, observing security around the facilities and buildings.

The statement, carried by KUNA, indicated that the mastermind had been nabbed along with a number of those he had recruited.

They were referred to the judicial department for combating terrorism and were put behind bars, pending further investigations into the case.

Tunisia, which heavily depends on tourism as a state income, has witnessed in the past terror attacks intended to scare off foreign tourist.

Meanwhile, in another development, sorty hotels have reopened in the governorate of Sousse since June 4, a few months after the COVID-19 crisis.

These tourist facilities have accommodated more than 3.000 Tunisian and foreign tourists until June 30, local tourism delegate Taoufik Gaied told Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) Tuesday.

The official said several hotels in the tourist areas of Sousse and Kantaoui have been turned into quarantine centers.

They have received more than 3,500 Tunisians repatriated from abroad, i.e. 40 percent of the total number of people subject to mandatory quarantine in the country. —KUNA/TAP