This dyad belongs to the conflict Tunisia: Government
Summary of conflict Tunisia: Government
A previously unknown group Tunisian Armed Resistance (Résistance Armée Tunisienne) attacked a police station and military base in Gafsa, Tunisia in January 1980. The uprising ended in a matter of days and did not mobilise any broader support in the region or the rest of the country. The attacks resulted in some international turmoil but none that escalated to armed conflict.
The attacks in Gafsa
Tunisia gained independence from France in 1961 and the first Tunisian president, Habib Bourguiba, installed a one-party state. In 1975 he was elected president for life but there was a growing amount of strikes and political turmoil in the 1970s. For the parliamentary elections in late 1979 two candidates per seat were registered but as the president’s party PSD (Parti socialiste desourien, Socialist Destourian Party) was the only legally permitted party in the country, all eligible candidates came from this party.
On 27 January 1980 violence broke out as a number of rebels from the previously unknown group Tunisian Armed Resistance (Résistance Armée Tunisienne) attacked a police station and a military base in the oasis town of Gafsa. Located in the middle of the country’s phosphate rich area, the town was known for its discontent with the Bourguiba government. Initial reports claimed that 300 rebels participated in the attacks but the actual number has later been estimated below 100. In the following violence more than 41 people, most of them army soldiers were killed. The group declared that it strived to free Tunisia from the “dictatorship” of Bouruiba. The Tunisian army was able to recapture Gafsa on 28 January but sporadic fighting continued in the following days in the region.
Following the attack, Tunisia accused Libya of having trained the rebels and provided them with arms. Libya denied the accusations and claimed that it was rather a “popular uprising”. France also reacted to the events and mobilised its Mediterranean fleet to portray support for the Tunisian government. There were also claims of French helicopters being used to evacuate injured Tunisian soldiers. Libya, as well as other countries in the region, responded negatively to the French involvement, but as there was no proof of French participation in the actual fighting, the tension never deepened. Internally the opposition against the PSD condemned the attacks in Gafsa. They, however, also condemned the execution of 13 Tunisian Armed Resistance members that were captured following the attacks.
The revolt in Gafsa did not receive the support that the rebels had hoped for. The hope had been that the population in the region would respond by joining the revolt but rather the conflict between Tunisian Armed Resistance and the government of Tunisia ended in a victory when the government recaptured Gafsa on 28 January 1980.
