12 members of Tunisian presidential guard killed in bomb blast
The President declared a state of national emergency after the attack, suspected to the work of a suicide bomber.
A bomb went off on a bus carrying Presidential guards in Tunisian capital Tunis on Tuesday, killing 12 and wounding 17 others. It is suspected to be the work of a suicide bomber, Reuters reported. President Beji Caid Essebsi declared a month-long state of emergency in the country and imposed curfew on the city as ambulances rushed in and security forces closed off the streets. This is the third such tragedy in Tunisia this year. The Islamic State had claimed responsibility after a militant killed 38 people at a resort in Sousse in June and gunmen killed 21 tourists at a museum in Tunis in March. Earlier this month, authorities arrested 17 militants and prevented another major attack planned in Sousse.
"They want to make us live with horror but we are going to bring that horror to the terrorist camps," Essebsi said after Tuesday's attacks. "We are at war and we are going to win." Tunisia was among the countries to most successfully oust an autocratic leader, Zine Abidine Ben Ali, during the Arab Spring of 2011 and establish dialogue between secular and religious forces. It has, however, faced several threats from various militant groups, with thousands of its citizens joining the war in Syria, on the side of ISIS as well as other fronts.