A Tunisian policeman was killed and another wounded yesterday when security forces clashed with Islamist militants on the outskirts of Tunis, three days before parliamentary elections which voters hope will help them advance towards full democracy.

Police negotiators in the suburb Oued Ellil to west of Tunis were trying to persuade militants to give themselves up after the house they were in was surrounded following heavy exchanges of gunfire, officials and a Reuters witness said.

Heavily armed security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to try to force at least two suspected militants out of the house, in which officials said several women and children were being held.

Tunisia has struggled to subdue hardline Islamists and jihadists opposed to the transition to democracy

“We’ve called on them to let the woman and children out, but they refused ... they are family members,” Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui told reporters. “

Tunisia has struggled to subdue hardline Islamists and jihadists opposed to the transition to democracy following the 2011 fall of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and the military cracked down hard on militants in the run up to the election.

Security and economic development are major concerns for Tunisians voters who hope the poll will consolidate the country’s democracy after a year of political disputes that almost scuttled the transition process.

Aroui said that, as part of preemptive raids, security forces captured two suspected militants in Kebeli in the south of Tunisia who had ties to the group in Oued Ellil.

Earlier this month, security forces arrested a group of Islamist militants, including two women, saying they were planning attacks in the capital before the vote.

Since the 2011 revolt, Tunisia has advanced towards full democracy, unlike other countries where Arab Spring uprisings brought about changes of government.

Among militant groups there is Ansar al-Sharia, which the United States considers a terrorist organisation and blames for a 2012 attack on the US embassy in Tunis.

Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa said recently Tunisia has arrested some 1,500 suspected jihadists this year, among them hundreds who fought in Syria’s civil war and could pose a danger at home.