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{{more footnotes|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Tunisian Army
| native_name = {{lang|ar|جيش البر التونسي}}
| image = شعار أركان جيش البر، تونس.svg
| image_size = 150px
| caption = Seal of the Tunisian Land Army
| start_date = 1831
| country = {{TUN}}
| allegiance =
| branch =
| type =
| role =
| size = 90
| command_structure = [[Tunisian Armed Forces]]
| garrison = [[Tunis]]
| garrison_label = HQ
| equipment =
| equipment_label =
| nickname = TAF
| patron =
| motto =
| colors =
| colors_label =
| march =
| mascot =
| battles = [[French conquest of Tunisia]]<br />[[Bizerte crisis|Bizerte Crisis]]<br />[[Yom Kippur War]]<br>[[1980 Gafsa Uprising]]<br />[[Battle of Wazzin]]<br />[[Chaambi Operations]]<br/>[[Battle of Ben Guerdane]]
| anniversaries =
| decorations =
| battle_honours = <!-- Commanders -->
| current_commander = General [[Mohamed El Ghoul]]
| current_commander_label = Commander
| ceremonial_chief =
| ceremonial_chief_label =
}}
The '''Tunisian Land Army''' ({{
The Land Army is the largest service branch within the Tunisian Armed Forces and has a dominant presence in the current General Staff. It is estimated to number around 90,000, in addition to 60,000 reservists for a total of 150,000 strong.
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The modern Tunisian army was formed in 1831 by [[Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud]].
The first battalions of the regular modern Tunisian army were created at the same time as the reform of the Ottoman army and after the French conquest of Algeria in 1830.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gabriele|last=Esposito|page=36|title=Ottoman Armies 1820-1914|ISBN=978-1-4728-5537-4}}</ref>
At the initiative of Minister of Hussein Bey II, Mamluk Shakir Saheb Ettabaâ, a battalion of
Ahmed Bey I built on the initial reforms of the reign of his uncle, Hussein Bey II and initiated more extensive changes in both the Tunisian army and state. The former changes included the raising of Tunisia's first regular cavalry regiment in 1838, the opening of a military academy in 1840 and the creation of four conscript based regiments of infantry by 1842. Four artillery units were organised between 1838 and 1847, to be brigaded with the conscripted infantry.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gabriele|last=Esposito|page=36|title=Ottoman Armies 1820-1914|ISBN=978-1-4728-5537-4}}</ref>
====Early structure====
By 1855 the Tunisian army was divided into 7 infantry brigades spread throughout the country as listed below. Each was under the command of an ''Amir Liwa'' (Brigadier-General). From 1864 an ''Amir Oumar'' (General of Division was appointed). The numbers of each brigade varies from 1 000 to 2 000 men at different times.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Also available from 1835 to 1860 were 4 artillery brigades (''topjiya'') of 1000 men each, distributed as follows:
*
*
*
*
The Army also had several Tunisian irregular regiments made up of Berber tribal levies (or ''Zouaoua mkhaznia'') spread across the country. The full strength of these irregular units reached up to 40,000 infantry and cavalry. They were based mainly in barracks at Kef, Nefza and Tunis, and were commanded by Turkish Mamluks. When the need for a regular cavalry regiment ([[spahis]]) arose, Ahmed Bey I created one regiment in 1850, based in Manouba.
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1,545 Tunisian soldiers have received United Nations medals for serving a minimum of 90 days as members of one or another United Nations peacekeeping missions.
During the 2011 [[Libyan Civil War]], Tunisian forces, mostly border guards, saw some limited action when fighting between Libyan rebels and loyalist soldiers spilled over the border and clashes ensued between the Libyan Army and the Tunisian Army, resulting in at least one
In October 2016, a British Short Term Training Team of 40 troops provided operational planning, intelligence, surveillance, and patrolling training to about 200 Tunisian personnel of the Tunisian 1st Infantry Brigade, to help Tunisia to better guard their land borders.<ref>Jane's Defence Weekly, 22 November 2016.</ref> The training, provided under the auspices of the [[4th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)]], involved theoretical and practical exercises.
== Army command and organisation ==
Following the [[Tunisian Revolution]], the army strength increased up to
However the organisation remains mainly the same compared to the pre-revolution one. Most noticed change is the adding of an Intervention Battalion in each of the three mechanized infantry Brigade. These new battalions mostly focused on anti-terror fighting was seen during 61st army anniversary parade
Main Tunisian Army formations are as follows :
[[File:Tunisian Army OOB.png|thumb|right|700px|Structure of the Tunisian Army 2020]]
* ''' 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade ([[Gabès]], South
** 11th Mechanized infantry battalion
** 12th Mechanized infantry battalion
** Tank battalion
** Intervention battalion
** Field artillery battalion
** 51st Anti-air Artillery battalion
** ''Reconnaissance company
** ''Anti-tank company
* '''2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade ([[Béja]], North)'''
**
**
** Tank battalion
**
**
**
** ''Reconnaissance company''
** ''Anti-tank company''
* '''3rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade ([[Kairouan]], Center)'''
** 15th Mechanized infantry battalion
** 16th Mechanized infantry battalion
** Tank battalion
**
** Field artillery battalion
** 53rd Anti-air Artillery battalion
** ''Reconnaissance company
** ''Anti-tank company
* '''Saharian Territory Forces Group'''
* '''[[Groupe des Forces Spéciales|Special Forces Group]]'''
* '''Police Military Group'''
* '''Engineer Group'''
* '''Signal Group'''
* '''Logistic Support Group'''
== Ranks ==
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|}
==Equipment==
{{main|List of equipment of the Tunisian Army}}
==
{{Reflist}}
{{Tunisia topics}}
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