Tunisian police killed six suspected militants, five of them women, in a raid on a suburban house Friday after a 28-hour standoff, fanning tensions ahead of a landmark election.

Tunisian police killed six suspected militants, five of them women, in a raid on a suburban house Friday after a 28-hour standoff, fanning tensions ahead of a landmark election.

Two children were hospitalized after security forces stormed the home near Tunis, a day after a policeman was killed in a firefight with the suspects, interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said.

He said their father, whose earlier arrest led police to the house, was a member of Ansar al-Sharia, a 'jihadist' group branded a terrorist group by Washington.

The North African nation is preparing to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers and police for its first parliamentary polls Sunday since an uprising three years ago that inspired the Arab Spring revolutions.

The authorities have expressed fears that "terrorists" will seek to disrupt the election.

Authorities had appealed for the children and women to be allowed to leave the house in Oued Ellil, giving the gunmen an ultimatum to surrender.