Tunisian soldiers killed in Algeria gunfight

Two Tunisian soldiers have been killed and a further six have been injured in a gunfight in the town of Sak-i-et Sidi Yousef, near the border with Algeria.

This is the second such attack in the last two weeks after 15 Tunisian soldiers were killed and 18 wounded when dozens of gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades attacked two checkpoints in Chaambi earlier this month.

Tunisia's defence ministry said the gunmen attacked a Tunisian military patrol in the town of Sak-i-et Sidi Yousef.  

"There was an exchange of fire between a terrorist group and a military patrol at Ghar al-Tine, four kilometres from the Tunisian-Algerian border. Two of our soldiers were martyred and four were wounded," ministry spokesman, Lamjed Hamami said.

Since April, thousands of Tunisian soldiers have been deployed to the Mount Chaambi region in an operation against al-Qaeda-linked fighters. Some fighters have been in the area since fleeing French intervention in Mali last year.