Tunisian police have dismantled approximately 150 militant cells in the last six months, according to a National Guard spokesman on Saturday.

He went on to say that some of the foreign militants detained were planning to join “Jond Kilafha,” a group affiliated with the Islamic State in Libya and the mountains along the Tunisian-Algerian border.

“Attacks on neighboring countries were foiled, and a cell plotting to stab the interior minister in the country’s south was dismantled,” Houssem Eddine Jbebli told reporters.

The North African nation has been under a state of emergency since 2015, after an assault in which a number of presidential guards were killed.

Tunisian security forces have thwarted most militant plots in recent years and have become more efficient at responding to those attacks that do occur.