Suicide attacks target security forces in Tunis

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in separate attacks on security forces in the Tunisian capital on Thursday, killing one police officer and wounding several other people, the interior ministry said.

The first blast took place near the intersection between rue Charles de Gaulle and avenue Bourguiba, the Tunisian capital's main thoroughfare. One police officer was killed and at least one other officer and three civilians were wounded, the interior ministry said.

Shortly afterwards, a second suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station in al-Qarjani district. Four people were wounded, according to the ministry's casualty report.

Heavily armed police cordoned off the locations of the attacks, one of which was about 200 metres away from the French embassy.

As reports of the blasts came in, Tunisia's presidency announced that President Beji Caid Essebsi had been rushed to hospital after suffering a "severe health crisis".

Battling IS group

Thursday's bombings took place months before an election and at the peak of Tunisia’s tourist season.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sofian Zaak said the attackers had not yet been identified, and he called on the public to show strength and not panic.

Tunisia has been battling militant groups operating in remote areas near the border with Algeria since an uprising overthrew autocratic leader Zine Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

Last October, a woman blew herself up in the centre of the capital Tunis, wounding 15 people including 10 police officers in an explosion that broke a period of calm after dozens died in militant attacks in 2015.

Dozens of people died in attacks in 2015 including two against tourists – one at a museum in Tunis and another on a beach in Sousse. A third attack targeted presidential guards in the capital and killed 12.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed those attacks.