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24th Nov 2015

Up to 22 People Believed Dead As Explosion Targets Tunisian Presidential Guards

The North African state is a target of the Islamic State group.

Megan Cassidy

Up to 22 people believed to have been killed in a Tunisian explosion which targeted Presidential guards.

The bomb hit a bus which was carrying the guards during rush hour in the capital Tunis today, and has been described by a presidential source as an “attack”.

BBC have reported that the explosion occurred near the former headquarters of the party of the deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

It was not clear whether the bomb had detonated or whether it was fired at the bus.

According to the Associated Press news agency, security levels in Tunisia had been on high alert with a large number of forces deployed in the city in the last ten days.

The North African state is a target of the Islamic State group – in June of this year, a gunman on Sousse beach resort killed 38 people, mostly foreign tourists.

<> on June 30, 2015 in Sousse, Tunisia.
38 people were killed when a gunman stormed Sousse beach. 

Before that, in March, gunmen attacked the famous Bardo Museum, killing more than 20 people.