A Tunisian soldier was killed and two others injured Sunday when their vehicle hit a landmine "planted by terrorist elements" in a mountainous western region near the Algerian border

A Tunisian soldier was killed and two others injured Sunday when their vehicle hit a landmine "planted by terrorist elements" in a mountainous western region near the Algerian border, the defense ministry said.

"A mine exploded under their vehicle," ministry spokesman Belhassen Oueslati told AFP, declining to name the exact location where he said a military operation was "ongoing".

"The mine was planted by terrorist elements," he added.

The incident comes as the country is on high alert after gunmen killed 20 foreign tourists and a policeman at the country's national museum on Wednesday, in an attack claimed by the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group.

Since its 2011 revolution, the army has been hunting Al-Qaeda-linked operatives who are active in the border area.