Tunisia has announced plans to build a barrier along the border with Libya to keep out extremists following recent terror attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.
Prime minister Habib Essid said construction of the barrier, which is aimed at rendering the border “impassable” by jihadi fighters and vehicles, is expected to run to the end of the year.
Mr Essid said the barrier, which will be built by the army and private contractors, will cover about 105 miles of border with Libya and include fencing, a sand wall, trenches and surveillance posts.
Tunisia’s government declared a state of emergency on Saturday – just days after a gunman killed 38 tourists in the coastal resort of Sousse.
Three months earlier, attackers fired on tourists and others at the National Bardo Museum in the capital, Tunis, killing 22 people.
Separately, Britain’s Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to Tunisia following the terror attack nearly two weeks ago.
Three Irish and 30 British people were among 38 killed when a gunman opened fire on a beach in Sousse.
The British Foreign Office is working closely with tour operators to ensure its citizens are able to return home.