Tunis, Feb 3, (dpa/GNA) – Four Tunisian military personnel were killed on Wednesday after their vehicle hit an explosive device in a mountainous area, a defense official said.
The explosion took place in Tunisia’s western area of Jebel Mghila, spokesman for the Tunisian Defense Ministry Mohammed Zikri told dpa.
The four died after they had sustained serious injuries caused by the blast, he added.
The official said the explosion happened while the four were pursuing “terrorists” – a term used in Tunisia to refer to Islamist militants.
In recent years, Tunisia has witnessed a string of militant attacks, most of them claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
In March last year, one police officer was killed when two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the US embassy in the capital, Tunis.
In March 2015, 21 tourists and a police officer were killed when gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis.
Three months later, 38 tourists, mostly Britons, were killed in an attack at a hotel in Tunisia’s coastal city of Sousse.
GNA