Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Tunisia has sustained heavy losses by Al Qaida.

At least 14 Tunisian Army soldiers were killed and 20 others were injured in attacks by Al Qaida-aligned units along the border with Algeria.

Officials said the attackers came from Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, which has been operating in Mount Chambi over the last year.

“The Army continues to search for the attackers,” Tunisian Defense Ministry spokesman Rachid Bouhoula said.

The Al Qaida operation targeted two Army posts in a simultaneous attack on late July 16. Officials said the Islamist fighters employed rocket-propelled grenades and semi-automatic assault rifles during the breakfast from the Ramadan fast.

This marked the second major Army loss from AQIM over the last year. In 2013, eight soldiers were killed in an Al Qaida attack in Chambi.

“It was two simultaneous terrorist attacks when they were breaking their fast,” Tunisian Army Col. Maj. Suhail Chamangi said. “Bodies of nine burned after they were hit with an RPG. Five more were shot.”

Later, a group called the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade. Officials said Okba was a front linked to AQIM.

“This is open warfare,” Chamangi said.

  14 Tunisian soldiers killed in Al Qaida attack near Algerian border, Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, Col. Maj. Suhail Chamangi, Mount Chambi