One person was killed and two others injured as security forces battled with a band of religious conservatives who attacked a police station in a coastal town in Tunisia, media reports said.

The attackers, described by Al Watanya state television and radio stations as ultra-conservative Muslims known as Salafis, launched the attack in Hergla, near the city of Sousse, late last night after one of their members was arrested as a suspect in an assault on a school principal.

Three men stormed into a high school and attacked the principal on Wednesday after he allegedly refused to allow a student wearing a face veil to attend.

According to the media reports, the assailants of the police station were armed with sticks and stones and police responded with tear gas and warning shots.

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