Tunisian authorities held funeral services for six security servicemen who were killed in a terrorist attack on Sunday in the northwestern Ain Sultan region. Military barracks near the capital’s headquarters received the bodies of the victims wrapped in the Tunisian national flag before they were sent home to their families. Militants present in rural parts of Tunisia frequently target security forces, but Sunday’s toll was the highest since 2015, a year in which terrorists carried out three major attacks. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack carried out by the “Ibn Nafie” battalion, an AQIM offshoot. The organization first appeared in 2012, establishing a foothold in each of the Kef and Jendouba governorates. AQIM had recently threatened to carry out more terror attacks in the country after a nearly two-year pause that was prompted by a security crackdown. According to the Interior Ministry, the victims of Sunday’s terror attack were aged between 25-28, and included a National Guard officer, who was assigned at the province of Kairouan (central Tunisia). Tunisian parties, organizations and unions condemned the attack. National Guard spokesman Hossam al-Din al-Jabbabli, meanwhile, described the health of three survivors as “stable.” The Tunisian Interior Ministry confirmed that it had seized the car used by the terrorists, as well as their weapons and equipment that included a machinegun. The Tunisian security sources said that the terrorist group had, since April, consistently attempted to target border security patrols, but their attempts were foiled by the authorities. The sources pointed to terror groups planting a web of mines along the route patrolled by security forces. The Defense and Interior Ministries provided important statistics on operations they carried out over the span of 11 months in 2017. Authorities said security units and the Tunisian army carried out at least 855 security operations to combat terrorism. These operations witnessed the participation of about 30,000 soldiers, successfully eliminated five terror leaders and located 20 secret hideouts used for terror combat training.