Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Larayedh said on Thursday that Tunisia is making progress in its bid to dismantle "terrorist" cells despite the presence in the country of armed groups and recent clashes with Islamists

Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Larayedh said on Thursday that Tunisia is making progress in its bid to dismantle "terrorist" cells despite the presence in the country of armed groups and recent clashes with Islamists.
  
"There is progress in dismantling the terrorist networks. We are confronted by small groups who practice terrorism and have links to terrorist parties," Larayedh told a news conference. "We will continue to pursue them and all people who practise violence or have links with the terrorists."
  
But Larayedh acknowledged that the hunt for an armed group linked to Al-Qaeda along the Algerian border, which began in late April, was still taking place. "Our units continue their search operations at Mount Chaambi and there is nothing new about this," he said.
  
Larayedh declined to label as "terrorists" the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia that has been linked with Al-Qaeda and with which police clashed last week. "This is an illegal organisation, and some of its leaders are involved in terrorism," said the premier, a member of Tunisia's moderate Islamist party Ennahda.
  
"I have not yet said that Ansar al-Sharia is a terrorist organisation... it must quickly issue a statement clearly condemning violence and terrorism," he added.