Gunmen opened fire at a major museum in Tunisia’s capital yesterday, killing at least 20 people, mostly foreigners, in one of the North African country’s worst terrorist attacks.

Men with assault rifles fired at tourists climbing from buses in front of the National Bardo Museum in central Tunis near the country’s Parliament, sending dozens sprinting for safety.

Two gunmen were killed but Prime Minister Habib Essid said a manhunt was on for two or three others.

The identity of the attackers was not clear. Security forces immediately flooded the area and Tunisia’s Parliament building, where deputies were debating the new anti-terrorism law, was evacuated.

A victim arrives at the Charles Nicoles hospital after gunmen attacked the National Bardo Museum in central Tunis yesterday. Photo: PA Wire

Dozens of tourists scrambled from the museum holding hands or linking arms as security forces pointed their guns towards an adjacent building.

Many elderly people, apparently tourists, ran in panic to safety, including at least one couple carrying two children.

Tunisia has been struggling to keep extremist violence at bay since the overthrow of its dictator in 2011, and the attack was the worst on a tourist site since an al-Qaida car bomb killed 21 people – mostly Germans –in 2002.

“Our nation is in danger,” Essid warned in an address on national TV after the siege ended.

“We will be merciless in the defence of our country,” he added, describing the attack as an unprecedented assault on Tunisia’s economy. He promised increased security in tourist zones and asked residents to be extra alert.

We will be merciless in the defence of our country

According to Essid, the dead include two gunmen, a Tunisian security officer and a Tunisian cleaning woman, while the rest were tourists from Italy, Poland, Germany and Spain. The Spanish foreign ministry has confirmed one dead. Several other people were reported wounded in the attack, including three Poles and at least two Italians.

The Italian foreign ministry said 100 other Italians had been taken to a secure location.

Some of the Italians at the museum were believed to have been passengers aboard the Costa Fascinosa, a cruise liner that had docked in Tunis while on a seven-day tour of the western Mediterranean. Ship owner Costa Crociere confirmed that some of its 3,161 passengers were visiting the capital and that a Bardo tour was on the itinerary, but said it could not confirm how many passengers were in the museum at the time. The attack was a strong blow to Tunisia’s efforts to revive its crucial tourism industry.

A damaged bus after an attack by gunmen on Tunisia’s national museum in Tunis. Photo: Reuters

The Bardo, built in a 15th century palace, is the largest museum in Tunisia and houses one of the world’s largest collections of Roman mosaics among its 8,000 works. The museum, four kilometres from the city centre, has a new wing with contemporary architecture that was built as part of a 2009 renovation.

During the Roman Empire, Tunisia was called the province of Africa and was home to several large cities which are now popular ruins, including the great amphitheatre of El Djem, the ruins of Sbeitla and in the north, Dougga, known by Unesco as the “best preserved small town in North Africa”.

“It is not by chance that today’s terrorism affects a country that represents hope for the Arab world. The hope for peace, the hope for stability, the hope for democracy. This hope must live,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.

Speaking at the Louvre museum to call for international efforts to preserve the heritage of Iraq and Syria against extremist destruction, French President Francois Hollande said he had called Tunisia’s President to offer support and solidarity.