A Tunisian soldier was killed and six others injured when a landmine exploded on Monday followed by a fire exchange with a terror group in the central region of western Tunisia, Colonel Belhassen al-Waslati, spokesman for the Tunisian Ministry of Defense, said. Injured soldiers were transferred to the regional hospital in Kasserine to receive the necessary treatment. He said that a mine exploded during a military patrol combing Kasserine Mountains in pursuit of terrorists that attacked the local population during the past few days and seized food supplies to families living close to military zone. As for operation details, Waslati said that the dead soldier was shot in action. The rest were wounded by a landmine explosion as military vehicles were tracking the terrorists in western mountainous areas. A German study prepared by Firil, found that Tunisia ranked sixth in terms of the number of fighters who joined ISIS in Syria, a figure that is first revealed to the media. According to the research, the number of Tunisian terrorists joining ISIS in Syria is about 12,800 terrorists since the outbreak of war in Syria. At least 5,000 were reported killed, and 1,320 went missing. Security services in Tunisia confirm the return of about 800 ultra-hardliners from warzones, which means that the number of terrorists who are still on the fronts of terrorism in Syria is estimated to be 5,680 terrorists, a dashing figure far from what official figures provided by the Tunisian authorities suggested. Authorities put the limit at 2,929 terrorists. Tunisian authorities fear the impact of the return of terrorists and how it would affect efforts made by military and security institutions to control national security and stability. The hindrance comes after years of open confrontations with terrorist organizations exploiting a deteriorated security standing in neighboring Libya to train recruits and send them back to Tunisia for operating bloody terrorist attacks.