Tunisia bus blast kills at least 11 people

At least eleven people have been killed and several injured after a bus transporting Presidential Guards exploded in front of a hotel.

The attack occurred on Avenue Mohamed V in central Tunis, according to local Mosaique FM radio station.

At least 11 people have been killed in the blast, the interior ministry said, the BBC reports.

Tunisia’s tourism industry has been hit hard this year following extremist attacks.

Security and presidential sources have described the explosion as an attack, and said it was not immediately clear whether it was caused by bomb or an explosive fired at the bus as it travelled along the tree-lined road.

The explosion came 10 days after authorities increased the security level in the Tunisian capital and deployed security forces in high numbers. In March, an attack at Tunisia’s famed Bardo museum near the capital killed 22 people.

Just three months later a gunman killed 38 foreigners at a beach hotel in June.

While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, Tunisia has been plagued by attacks by Islamist militant groups since 2011.

The Daesh militants, who have seized swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, such as public decapitations and crucifixions, against all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians in areas they have overrun.