Tunis, April 8 (IANS): Five soldiers were killed and nine injured in an ambush in midwest Tunisia, the country's defence ministry said on Wednesday.
The incident took place amid heavy combing operations around Kasserine, defence ministry spokesperson Belhassan Oueslati said.
Tunisian security forces arrested 13 suspects who will be interrogated by the Interior Ministry.
The targeted army patrol left the Sbeitla barracks towards a mountain in the same region, near the Algerian border. It consisted of 20 soldiers and four vehicles. The patrol was attacked by an RPG and a grenade.
On Tuesday, Tunisian media reported the attack, however, the death toll was not confirmed by the authorities until Wednesday.
Last month, a terror attack on the famous Bardo Museum in Tunisia's capital Tunis left at least 23 people dead, including 20 foreign tourists.