Explosion hits bus in Tunisia

UPDATE The Tunisian government has announced that the explosion on the bus in Tunis was caused by a suicide bomber, who detonated a backpack full of explosives as he boarded the bus.  

“According to the preliminary details, the attacker was wearing a bag on his back. He had on a coat and was wearing headphones. He blew himself up just getting into the door of the bus with military explosives,” Hichem Gharbi, a presidential security official, told local Shems FM radio according to the Straits Times.

ACCORDING to a statement by the Tunisian interior ministry, a bus carrying presidential guards in the capital of Tunis has been blown up with at least 14 dead and 11 injured on November 24.

Although it cannot be confirmed whether a bomb or an external agent caused the explosion, the government has confirmed its belief that the explosion was terrorist inspired.

The attack took place on the city’s central Mohamed V Avenue and appears to have been outside or very close to the former headquarters of deposed president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which may or may not have any significance.

Tunisia, which is said to be a main supplier of jihadists to various Islamic groups, has only just started to recover from the attack by a single gunman at the beach resort of Sousse in June, killing 38 people, mostly foreign tourists.