Tunis attacks: Two suicide bombers trigger explosions in heart of Tunisia capital

At least one dead and eight others injured in double attack

Two suicide bombers have blown themselves up in separate attacks in Tunisia’s capital city, Tunis, killing one police officer.

At least eight people have also been injured in the double attack on Thursday, the government said.

The first bomber targeted a police patrol in Charles de Gaulle Street in central Tunis. One police officer was killed and at least one other officer and three civilians were wounded, the Interior Ministry said.

Shortly afterwards, a second suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station in the al-Qarjani district. Four people were wounded in the attack.

Heavily-armed police have cordoned off the sites of both attacks.

Tunisian civilians react at the site of an attack in the Tunisian capital's main avenue Habib Bourguiba (AFP/Getty Images)

Sofian Zaak, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said the bombers had not yet been identified.

One man who witnessed the attack told Reuters: "I was shopping with my daughter and we heard a big explosion. We saw the body of the terrorist lying on the ground near a police vehicle after he blew himself up."

Video footage posted on Facebook Live of the aftermath of the first attack shows injured people walking along the blood spattered street and a man being pulled from a white pick-up truck.

In another clip, a man is shown lying in the street with blood pouring from his head.

The last suicide bombing to hit Tunis was in November 2015 when a bus carrying members of the presidential guard was targeted.

Twelve people were killed and 16 injured, with ISIS later claiming responsibility for the attack.

Five months earlier, 38 people, including many British tourists, were killed when a gunman attacked two hotels on Tunisia's coast.

Tunisia has been battling militant groups operating in remote areas near the border with Algeria since an uprising overthrew autocratic leader Zine Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. High unemployment has also stoked unrest in recent years.

Additional reporting by Reuters