At least 21 people, including 17 foreign tourists, were killed when gunmen stormed a museum in the Tunisian capital on Wednesday, said Prime Minister Habib Essid.

Essid said in a televised speech that five "terrorists" had attacked the Bardo Museum, located adjacent to the parliament building, where they had taken several tourists hostage.

He said German, Italian, Polish and Spanish nationals had been among those killed in the attack.

According to Essid, security forces killed two of the attackers.

A Tunisian civilian and a member of the security forces had also been killed, he said.

"This cowardly operation targeted Tunisia's tourism industry and economy," Essid said.

A security source had earlier told The Anadolu Agency that security forces had stormed the museum, killing two of the gunmen and freeing all of the hostages.

There has been no claim of responsibility for Wednesday's attack.

PHOTO CAPTION

Tourists are evacuated from the site of an attack carried out by two gunmen at Tunis' famed Bardo Museum

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