Two suicide bombers attack US embassy in Tunisia: Militants on a motorcycle attempt to storm the consulate in Tunis before blowing themselves up, killing a policeman and wounding others
- Two attackers detonated device outside consulate in Berges du Lac area Friday
- One police officer was killed, four others were injured, as well as a civilian
- Stray body parts could be seen lying in pools of blood in the debris filled street
- Last summer ISIS claimed responsibility for three attacks in the capital city
Two suicide bombers blew themselves this morning outside the US embassy in Tunisia, killing one policeman and injuring four other officers.
The assailants tried to force their way through the main gate but were blocked by officers guarding the consulate in the Berges du Lac district of Tunis.
One officer was killed, while four others and a civilian were injured, when the vicious explosive device was detonated in the North African city.
Stray limbs lay in pools of blood on the debris filled road in the aftermath and a scorched motorbike could be seen close to a damaged police car.
Last summer, ISIS claimed responsibility for three blasts in the city, Friday morning’s attack marking the worst since those terrorist atrocities.
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Police and forensic experts gather at the scene of an explosion near the US embassy in the Tunisian capital Tunis. A badly damaged Fiat 500 hatchback can be seen with its front windshield shattered not far from a stray limb lying in the road
A Tunisian official walks across the road surrounded by debris which filled the street along with a dismembered limb
Forensic experts investigate at the scene of suicide attack outside the US Embassy which injured five Tunisian officers guarding the diplomatic mission
Members of the Tunisian security forces stand guard outside the US Embassy in the capital city this morning
There were conflicting reports that two attackers had carried out the bombing. Radio Mosaique said that two people had gone to the police patrol as if to seek information before detonating an explosive device.
A police spokesman said: ‘The operation was doomed to fail.’
A helicopter whirled overhead and large numbers of police and forensics officers gathered at the scene.
The explosion caused panic among pedestrians near the embassy, images shared online showed.
‘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, some of whom were wounded,’ said Amira, a shopkeeper in the area.
Embassy officials confirmed the attack in a tweet on its official Twitter feed, and urged people to avoid the area.
Radio Mosaique, a local radio station, reported that the attacker had injured five police officers when blowing himself up.
Sirens could be heard on the major highway linking the Lac district, where the embassy is located, with Tunis and suburbs in the north.
Police and forensics teams at the site of the blast in the Tunisian capital on Friday morning
A wide police cordon was set up outside the US Embassy this morning following the blast. Islamic State carried out three blasts in the capital last summer
Tunis residents stand on a road, following a reported explosion, near the U.S. embassy in Tunis, Tunisia
Last summer, Islamic State said it was behind three militant 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.
Tunisia’s critical tourism sector is highly vulnerable to militant incidents and was devastated after two major attacks in 2015, which killed scores of visitors at a beach resort and a popular museum.
Diplomats who have worked with Tunisia on its security capacity say it has grown more effective in preventing and responding to militant attacks in recent years.