The recent delivery of 48 armored vehicles to the Tunisian Army is expected to help the country’s military conduct security operations, joint and combined exercises and rapid response missions across the region.
Official unveiled the high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (Humvees) during a June 4 ceremony at the El Aouina military base in Tunis, the capital. Humvees are often used to transport troops, conduct medical evacuations and perform combat patrols, and are known to be reliable in extremely harsh environments. They are expected to help combat smuggling and militant activities along the borders with Algeria and Libya.
“These vehicles will enhance the operational capabilities of the national army and support its readiness, especially in the field of protecting the land borders, combating terrorism and smuggling, and confronting all illegal activities,” the Tunisian Ministry of Defense said in a statement. “This deal comes as part of Tunisia and the United States’ efforts to strengthen military cooperation between them, bring visions closer on various security issues, and a shared commitment to support this strategic partnership in the interests of both parties.”
Manufactured in the U.S. by AM General, the widely used Humvee can travel 113 kph on paved roads and about 400 kilometers on one tank of diesel, according to Military Africa magazine. It has more than 38 cm of ground clearance and often is used in the type of desert areas that mark Tunisia’s long western border with Algeria and the southeastern border with Libya.
Humvees are made in various body configurations, including ambulances and cargo and weapons carriers. Some armored versions can mount machine guns and grenade launchers and operate an anti-tank missile system. The vehicles can fit inside C-130 cargo aircraft and are deliverable by parachute, which facilitates rapid deployment.
The U.S. delivered its first batch of 52 Humvees to Tunisia in 2015 and has made other recent deliveries of military equipment to the country. In December 2025, Tunisia received counterterrorism equipment worth $1.4 million from the U.S. Also last year, Tunisia received two 34-meter, Island-class patrol boats, which help forces secure the country’s 1,148-kilometer coastline, facing smuggling, organized crime and terrorism threats.
It was also reported in 2025 that Tunisia was set to buy an undisclosed number of 20-meter Archangel patrol boats from the U.S. at an estimated total cost of $110 million. The purchase will include GPS, navigation and communications systems, and training. In January, the U.S. delivered a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to the country, the fourth such delivery since 2021.
“Security cooperation is a cornerstone of the U.S.-Tunisian 229 year-diplomatic relationship, and today’s transfer of 48 Armored HMMWVs to the Tunisian Army exemplifies the strength of our partnership,” U.S. Ambassador Bill Bazzi said. “Enhancing Tunisia’s armored capacity expands our shared ability to support regional stability, cooperative security efforts, and humanitarian assistance.”
While Tunisia experiences relatively few major terror attacks, the Islamic State (IS) group in February claimed it used explosives to kill four Tunisian Soldiers and a shepherd near Jebel Meghila in the central part of the country. Mohamed Zekri, Tunisia’s defense ministry spokesman, said the Soldiers were killed “during a combing operation in the heights of the Mughayla Mountains to track down terrorist elements, after a custom-made landmine exploded, and they were martyred,” the United Kingdom’s Arabi21 news website reported.
In May 2023 a gunman killed two worshippers and three security officers on the island of Djerba at the country’s oldest synagogue.
This year, the Tunisian military stopped a terror attack near a weekly market and killed Seddik El Abidi, leader of the IS offshoot Jund al-Khilafa, Soldiers of the Caliphate, battalion, the news agency Tuniscope reported. Four weeks later, Tunisian authorities dismantled a four-member terrorist cell near the Algerian border. All four members were killed, including a man who detonated a suicide vest after refusing to surrender.
On June 18, Tunisian authorities announced that the national unit for combating terrorism and organized crime dismantled two international criminal networks involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion and contract killings. The operation led to 25 arrests, the seizure of significant sums of money, drugs, as well as numerous luxury cars, motorcycles and boats, the Tunis Tribune news website reported.
Tunisian authorities have reported that in 2025, they dismantled 62 terrorist cells and arrested 2,038 people linked to extremism. The Tunis Afrique Presse agency reported that authorities recorded 2,058 terrorist-related acts last year.
