A Tunisian defense official says one soldier has been killed and three others wounded when a mine blew up their vehicle in a mountainous area known to be a refuge for al-Qaeda linked Islamic radicals.
Lt Col Belhassen Oueslati, a Defense Ministry spokesman, said the incident occurred yesterday in a mountainous region near the Algerian border.
Al-Qaeda linked radicals have staged attacks against army and politicians in the area for the past two years.
The incident comes days after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 21 people at a museum in Tunis. Authorities say the two slain gunmen blamed for that attack had no clear links to extremists.
Several well-armed groups in neighbouring and chaotic Libya have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
