Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid says there were up to five attackers. "Two were engaged in the operation and were killed. As I speak, our reports are not final. These two could have been assisted by two or three other operatives."

tweets:, external Attack in #terroriste #Tunisia : the crisis centre of the Quai d'Orsay has set up an emergency number 0143175646

At a press conference, Mr Essid says 22 tourists, and two Tunisians, were injured in the attacks.

Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid says: "It is a critical moment in our history, and a defining moment for our future."

Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid says the gunmen were wearing military fatigues.

The victims were Polish, Spanish, German, Italian and Tunisian, the Prime Minister says.

Tunisia's Prime Minister says at a press conference that 19 people were killed in the attacks, including 17 tourists.

Poland's Foreign Ministry said that three Poles were among the wounded, while the Italian Foreign Ministry said at least two Italians were hurt and 100 other Italians had been taken to a secure location.

Nessma TV, a Tunisian privately-owned channel, reports."The death toll in the terrorist attack (on the Tunisian parliament and Bardo Museum) rises after a member of the counter-terrorism team dies."

Let's just remind you of what we know so far. Gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in the centre of the Tunisian capital Tunis, killing at least eight people. Many more were taken hostage.

It was the first attack on a tourist site in years in Tunisia, a "shaky young democracy that has struggled to keep Islamic extremist violence at bay", AP reports.

Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi tweets, external that he has just finished a crisis meeting held in his palace. He is expected to address the nation later.

We are getting a sense of the scale of the operation before it ended - we will keep on posting images as we get them.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Images are starting to emerge on social media from inside the museum. Many appear to show a group of dozens of people sitting on the marble floor of a gallery. All the people inside the museum are now understood to have been freed.

The siege ended some two hours after the gunmen began their attack on the Bardo Museum, a major tourist attraction adjoining the parliament building.

Both the AFP and Associated Press news agencies say two gunmen and one security officer are among the dead.

France's President Francois Hollande has called his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi to express solidarity with the Tunisian nation "in this very grave moment," a source close to Mr Hollande's office is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

The Reuters news agency, quoting an unnamed security official, says all hostages in the Bardo Museum have now been freed.

Image source, EPA

It does now appear, according to reports on Tunisian media, that the attacks in the capital Tunis are over. At least eight people have been killed, though some reports say up to nine people may have died. Tunis-based radio station Shems FM reports, external that one of the dead was a security guard.

BBC Arab Affairs editor Sebastian Usher says the attack is a huge blow to Tunisia, whose economy is dependent on tourism.