Libyan War Briefly Spills into Tunisia

A clash between rebels and pro-Gadhafi soldiers led to the shelling of a border town in Tunisia, whose military repelled the Libyan attack.

Libyan soldiers skirmished with Tunisian troops at a border crossing between the two countries as the war in Libya threatens to ensnare its western neighbour. Rebels fighting to oust Moammar Gadhafi had captured the border crossing in the town of Dehiba, which served as the only safe exit from Libya for fighters holed up in the western reaches of the country. Troops loyal to Gadhafi started shelling the town today, injuring one Tunisian resident, and crossed the border to pursue rebels. That led the Tunisian military to respond and repel the Libyan incursion, keeping the border crossing in rebel control, for now. Tunisians, who forced out their own dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in January, are largely sympathetic to the rebels.