Tunisia says top terrorists killed

The Tunisian government says key members of a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda have been killed in a security operation.

Tunisia's interior minister says an extremist leader has been killed and his group nearly wiped out, as European tourists continue to leave amid fears of new terror attacks.

Islamic extremists have killed 60 people in Tunisia in recent months, including the massacre at a tourist resort on June 26.

Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli on Sunday said recent security operations had targeted key members of the al-Qaeda-linked Oqba Ibn Nafaa brigade.

He said that one of the five people killed in an operation on Friday was brigade leader Mourad Gharsalli, accused of links to prominent warlords in Algeria and Mali.

Tunisia, the only country to succeed in building a democracy after Arab Spring uprisings, is trying to defuse criticism from Britain and others that it hasn't done enough to protect tourists.

Gharsalli said the brigade was plotting attacks in Tunisia and sending Tunisians to fight abroad.

The brigade, based in the mountains near the Algerian border, is allied with al-Qaeda's North African branch.