Tunisia on Tuesday extended by three months a state of emergency imposed after a November suicide bombing claimed by ISIL killed 12 presidential guards.

Tunisia on Tuesday extended by three months a state of emergency imposed after a November suicide bombing claimed by ISIL killed 12 presidential guards.

President Beji Caid Essebsi "has decided after consultations ... to extend the state of emergency for a period of three months from March 23," his office said in a statement that came two weeks after another attack blamed on terrorists near the border with Libya.

This month's attack on police and army posts in the town of Ben Guerdane left seven civilians and 13 security personnel dead. Forty-nine terrorists have been killed by security forces in clashes immediately following the attacks and in subsequent raids.