Tunisian president declares state of emergency after explosion kills 12 on bus

An explosion struck a bus carrying members of Tunisia’s presidential guard in the country’s capital Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than a dozen others in what the government described as a terrorist attack.

The blast on a tree-lined avenue in the heart of Tunis is a new blow to a country that is seen as a model for the region but has struggled against Islamic extremist violence. Radical gunmen staged two attacks earlier this year that killed 60 people, devastated the tourism industry and rattled this young democracy.

President Beji Caid Essebsi, who wasn’t in the bus at the time of the attack, declared a 30-day state of emergency across the country and imposed an overnight curfew on the Tunis region. He convened an emergency meeting of his security council Wednesday morning.

Speaking on national television, he said Tunisia was at “war against terrorism” and urged international cooperation against extremists who have staged several deadly attacks in recent weeks.

“I want to reassure the Tunisian people that we will vanquish terrorism,” he said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack against the presidential guard, an elite security force that protects only the president.

Police fanned out throughout central Tunis after Tuesday’s explosion, and ambulances rushed to the scene, evacuating wounded and dead. Prime Minister Habib Essid and Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli visited the scene of the attack after it was cordoned off by police.

Interior Ministry spokesman Walid Louguini told the Associated Press that at least 12 were killed and 16 wounded in the attack.

Witness Bassem Trifi, a human rights lawyer, said the explosion hit the driver’s side of the bus, describing a “catastrophic spectacle.”

“I saw at least five corpses on the ground,” he told the AP. “This was not an ordinary explosion.”

The attack came days after authorities visibly but without explanation increased the security level in the capital and deployed security forces in unusually high numbers. The French embassy is this former French territory was also put under high protection in recent days, after extremist attacks in Paris killed 130.

Tunisia is the only so-called Arab Spring country to have solidified a new democracy, but it is facing serious economic and security challenges.