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The deadly terrorist attack on the famous Bardo museum in Tunis, which has claimed the lives of 18 tourists, shows that Islamist militants still pose a significant threat to Tunisias attempts to establish democratic government in the wake of the Arab Spring. As the birthplace of the wave of anti-government protests that have swept the Arab world during the past four years, Tunisia has emerged as one of the regions rare success stories. Following the overthrow of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, its long-serving dictator, the country was briefly run by the moderate Islamist Ennahda movement. But concerns that Ennahda was taking a soft line on combating militant jihadist groups led to the election last year of the veteran secularist Beji Caid Essebsi as president, with the result that Tunisia has now become the only one of the countries affected by the Arab Spring protests to have something approaching a secular-oriented, democratic government.

Not surprisingly, Tunisias success in making the difficult transition from autocracy to democratic rule is bitterly opposed by the legions of Islamist extremists who have taken root in North Africa, particularly in Libya and other parts of the Maghreb that have been rendered lawless by the events of the past four years. Tunisias modest security forces are currently engaged in operations against Islamist militants along its borders, a state of affairs that no doubt contributed to the Bardo attack, which the Tunisian authorities are blaming on Islamic State.

At a time when the mounting strength of Islamist terror groups is destabilising large tracts of the Arab world, it is vital that Tunisias brave experiment with democracy does not succumb to the malign designs of Islamist extremists. Otherwise all the sacrifices made during the Arab Spring will have been in vain.

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Democracy in danger