Hundreds of Tunisian women join jihadists in Syria: Minister

Tunis: Around 700 Tunisian women have travelled to Syria to join jihadist groups, Minister for Women Samira Merai told parliament on Friday.

Some 5,000 people from Tunisia, which is battling an Islamist insurgency at home, are thought to have joined the ranks of the Islamic State group (IS), and other groups, in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

"We have noted a development in the phenomenon of terrorism," Merai said. "Today there are 700 (Tunisian) women in Syria and women in Tunisian prisons" on terrorism charges.

She did not elaborate on what they were doing there, but said Prime Minister Habib Essid had called on several ministers "to present a battle plan against terrorism, each in his own area".