Esper Arrives in Tunisia for Talks on Combating Terrorism

This noon, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrived in Tunisia at the start of his tour in North Africa to help in combating terrorism.

For his two-day visit, Esper prepared suggestions to enhance the cooperation to confront terrorist organizations in a region that includes Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Mauritania.

Esper is scheduled to meet his Tunisian counterpart, Ibrahim Al-Bartaji, before he meets President Qais Saeed, in the Carthage Palace.

Also, the US Defense Minister scheduled a visit to the American military cemetery in Carthage, where the soldiers during World War II got buried.

The minister's visit to Tunisia aims to strengthen relations with this "great" ally in the region and to discuss the threats posed by terrorist organizations such as "ISIS" and "Al Qaeda" to this country, according to AFP.

Since 2015, Tunisia has been an ally to Washington, and has been supported many times during the Libyan crisis.

Further more, Esper will visit neighboring Algeria on Thursday, becoming the first US defense secretary to do so since 2006.