The operation by the national guard and the army near the town of El Ktar in the Gafsa region comes less than a week after Tunisia's government declared a state of emergency following a gunman's attack in the beach resort of Sousse that left 38 tourists dead — mostly Britons.
Ministry spokesman Walid Louguini told The Associated Press that a gunfight erupted Friday morning as a special national guard unit tracked and chased eight suspected extremists in the mountainous Ouled Bouomrane area, near Gafsa's mining zone.
