Residents of the small village of Sidi Harrath, on the Tunisian-Algerian border near the Djebel Semmama mountainous area in western Tunisia, did not expect that their simple countryside could turn dangerous.

Residents of the small village of Sidi Harrath, on the Tunisian-Algerian border near the Djebel Semmama mountainous area in western Tunisia, did not expect that their simple countryside could turn dangerous.

The villagers thought that the militants who hole up in the mountains would only target security forces and the army, but on October 11, armed men kidnapped two members of one family who were grazing sheep a few meters away from the mountain. The militants killed Najib Qassimi, 36, claiming that he was an informant for security forces, and released his cousin, Saleh Qassimi, 35, to convey their threats to security forces and the army.

“That Sunday,” says Saleh, “Najib and I went to graze our 200 sheep in the Djebel Semmama as usual.  At 10 am, six gunmen in military uniforms attacked us, handcuffed us and took our mobile phones. I believe some of them had an Algerian accent,” he said.

Two of the armed men took three lambs while the rest checked the phones of the two shepherds and asked them some questions. Saleh says one of the terrorists took his shoes when he noticed that Saleh was wearing a new pair.

After they threw Najib’s body down the mountain, the terrorists mined the area around the body to target the security forces who combed the mountain in an attempt to save him.

Ali Qassimi, Najib’s uncle, says the gunmen tortured the victim after they told him that they suspected that he informed against their movements to the military forces surrounding the mountain. “They accused him of spying for the tyrant when they found the phone number of an army officer in his mobile phone,” says Ali.

Recently, residents of the villages near the mountains in the governorates of Kasserine, Kef and Gafsa have become afraid, especially since many houses have been robbed by people who are sometimes forced, due to hunger or a lack of logistical support provided by unknown parties, to raid homes in search of food.

Despite the loss of his nephew, who is survived by his widow and two children, Ali says what Najib did “the right thing” because informing against terrorists “is everyone’s responsibility to protect the country from the threat of takfiris.”

He claims that Najib’s widow has received a threatening message that she will have the same fate of her husband. “These messages however do not intimidate us,” says Ali.

Expert on Islamist groups, Allia Allani says terrorists killing a shepherd aims at intimidating citizens and preventing them from reporting their suspicious movements. He calls on the media not to exaggerate highlighting these incidents lest they achieve the terrorists’ objectives.

These groups, says Allani, rob houses in the villages surrounding the mountains where they hole up when they grow hungry, especially since security forces have tightened control on those who provide them with logistics and food from inside cities.

He thinks that the murdering of a shepherd could be an isolated case, but it also indicates that the terrorists target not only security and military personnel, but also anyone collaborating with them or putting terrorists’ lives to risk.

Director of the Geneva-based Arab Center for Research and Social Policy Analysis Riadh Sidaoui says Tunisians have become part of the security system and they now contribute to the detection of several terrorist plots.

The killing of the shepherd, says Sidaoui, aims to cut the link between the security forces and people; therefore, whistleblowers should be protected.