"Tunisia court blocks closure of factory blamed for pollution" 27 February 2026

A Tunisian court on Thursday rejected demands to suspend operations at a fertiliser factory, a lawyer told AFP, after thousands of protesters blamed the plant for a rise in health problems...The facility in the city of Gabes emits sulphur gases, nitrogen and fluorine, according to an audit last July for the African Development Bank, which reported "major non-compliance" on air and marine pollution...

Mounir Adouni, head of the Gabes bar association that launched the legal action, said Thursday's decision was an emergency ruling and a final verdict was pending...A major Tunisian civil rights group condemned the ruling, calling it a "serious setback in the treatment of the country's biggest environmental pollution case"...

It said the pollution was not an allegation but "confirmed by official reports"...

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