1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
India electionsIranIsrael-Hamas war

Several Tunisian policemen killed in two 'jihadist attacks'

June 15, 2015

Three policemen have been killed and four injured in central Tunisia after suspected jihadists opened fire on them. In a separate incident, militants killed a police officer in clashes on the Algerian border.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Fhfc
Tunisian riot police forces fire tear gas during clashes with supporters of Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia at Hai al Tadamon in Tunis, Tunisia, 19 May 2013 (Photo: EPA/STR)
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The policemen came under fire at two security checkpoints in Sini Bouzid province, according to a statement issued by the Tunisian Interior Ministry on Monday.

One suspected jihadist was killed and another wounded during the resulting shootout. Eight civilians were also injured, the ministry added.

Hours later, militants attacked security forces along the Algerian border, leaving one policeman dead and four injured.

"A national guardsman was martyred and four others wounded in Jendouba region on the border with Algeria during a shootout with a terrorist group," Mohamed Ali Aroui, a ministry spokesman, told the AFP news agency.

The authorities have blamed al Qaeda-linked jihadists for the violence. Islamic extremist have repeatedly targeted Tunisia's security forces.

The "Islamic State" (IS) jihadist group claimed responsibility for killing 21 tourists and a policeman in an attack on Bardo museum in the capital in March.

Tunisia has seen an increase in Islamist extremism since the 2011 revolution that ousted Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and began the Arab Spring.

shs/rc (dpa, AFP)