Heavy fighting for an army barracks in a Tunisian town near the Libyan border killed three civilians, three security personnel and 13 militants, medics and the defence ministry said.
A 12-year-old was among the civilians killed in Ben Guerdane, hospital official Abdelkrim Chafroud told AFP, adding that two security agents were also among the dead.
The defence ministry said that 13 militants and a soldier were killed as troops thwarted the attack on the barracks.
Six militants were also wounded and detained, defence ministry spokesman Rachid Bouhoula told AFP.
