Tunis, May 5 (IANS): Unidentified assailants attacked the national guard garrison near Tunisia's El Kef town in the west of the country, but there were no casualties among the guards, the official TAP news agency reported.
The gunmen, armed with automatic machine guns, fled the scene after the shootout.
A security source said a search operation was launched.
Xinhua said that over the past months, El Kef has witnessed a series of Islamic militant activities, and at least 20 people have been arrested in the region.
Recently, a number of national guards and army officers were injured in land mine blasts after they discovered a militant hideout built near the top of Mountain Chaambi.