Tunisia: Suicide attack targets US embassy

Tunisia‘s interior ministry confirms explosion but does not give further details.

Two suicide bombers have blown themselves up outside the United States embassy in the Tunisian capital, authorities have said, in the most serious attack in months. 

Witnesses said a man on a motorbike blew himself up near the diplomatic mission in the Berges du Lac district, causing panic among pedestrians at the site. 

Photos posted on local news websites showed damaged vehicles on the road outside the embassy.

Police taped off the area around the blast site, which was littered with debris. The US flag could be seen fluttering in the background.

The US embassy in Tunis said emergency personnel were responding to the explosion. 

The Interior Ministry said two suicide bombers were killed carrying out the attack, and five police were injured.

“We heard a very powerful explosion … we saw the remains of the terrorist lying on the ground after he went on the motorbike towards the police,” said Amira, a shopkeeper.

Armed gunmen have targeted Tunisia in recent years, killing scores of people.

Last summer, ISIL (ISIS) said it was behind three blasts in the capital, including one near the French embassy that killed a policeman and another that wounded five people during a security operation to detain a suspect.