Five police officers killed in bomb attack near US Embassy in Tunisia

Two suicide bombers have blown themselves up near the US Embassy in Tunisia, killing at least one police officer.

Tunisia’s interior ministry says two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the US Embassy in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, killing at least one police officer.

A ministry statement said the attackers both died.

A civilian was slightly injured.

Forensic experts investigate at the scene of an explosion near the US embassy in the Tunisian capital Tunis. Picture: AFP

The Interior Ministry said two militants were killed carrying out the attack and five police officers were injured, while a civilian suffered minor injuries.

State news agency TAP reported that one policeman was killed.

“We heard a very powerful explosion ... we saw the remains of the terrorist lying on the ground after he went on the motorbike towards the police,” said Amira, a shopkeeper.

Police taped off the area around the blast site, which was littered with debris.

The flag of the United States could be seen fluttering in the background.

Security personnel stand outside the US embassy in Tunis, Tunisia. Picture: AP

Dozens of people have been killed in multiple attacks by Islamic extremists in Tunisia, notably in 2015 when the famed Bardo Museum outside the capital and a luxury beach hotel were attacked.

The US Embassy, located in a residential area on the outskirts of Tunis, was attacked in 2012 by crowds angered by an anti-Muslim film produced in the United States.

Since the fall of Tunisia’s hard-line secular dictatorship in January 2011, Salafists have come into the open.

Police and forensic experts gather at the scene of an explosion near the US embassy in the Tunisian capital Tunis. Picture: AFP