IS claims deadly attack in Tunisia resort

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Monday for a knife attack in Tunisia which killed one National Guard officer and wounded another, as security forces rounded up more suspects.

The attack on Sunday morning in a tourist district of the coastal city of Sousse saw a group of assailants ram a patrol of the National Guard with a vehicle before stabbing the officers.

They were chased by security forces before three of them were shot dead in an ensuing gun-battle, the Guard said, labelling the attack a "terrorist" act.

The Islamic State group said on Monday that its "fighters" had carried out the attack, in a brief statement by its propaganda arm Amaq on the Telegram messenger service.

"Photos show that one of the attackers was wearing a T-shirt with a specific inscription to Daesh (IS)," said Mokhtar Ben Nasr, former head of the National Counter-Terrorism Commission, while stressing it was difficult to establish precise links between the group and its supporters.

Tunisia, since its 2011 revolution, has been hit by a string of jihadist attacks that have killed dozens of security personnel, civilians and foreign tourists.

Sunday's incident took place close to the site of the deadliest attack, when 38 people, most of them British tourists, were killed in a 2015 beachside shooting rampage.

Tunisian authorities said on Monday that they had arrested seven people over the attack.

The wounded officer was "in a stable condition" on Monday, interior ministry spokesman Khaled Hayouni told AFP.

National Guard officer Sami Mrabet, a 38-year-old father of two, was buried Monday in his hometown of Moknine south of Sousse, in the presence of more than 1,000 people, including several government officials, an AFP correspondent reported. (AFP)