8 tourists killed, others taken hostage in Tunisia parliament attack
Gunmen attacked Tunisia's parliament building Wednesday, killing at least 8 tourists and taking others hostage in a nearby museum, a government official said, Reuters reported.
Exchanges of gunfire first rang out from the parliament building around midday, TAP state news agency reported.
The attackers have taken hostages in the nearby Bardo museum, private station Radio Mosaique initially reported, later confirmed by the authorities.
An interior ministry spokesman security forces were surrounding two militants holed up inside the Bardo Museum.
Tunisia's armed forces are fighting Islamist militants who emerged after the country's 2011 uprising against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.
Several thousand Tunisians have also left the country to fight for militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Libya, and the government is worried about returning jihadis carrying out attacks at home.