Tunisia court sentences two to death over deadly blast near US embassy

A Tunisian court has condemned to death two nationals of the North African country for a 2020 suicide attack that killed a policeman near the United States embassy, local media said Tuesday.

The penalty would amount to life in prison, the reports said, as Tunisia has had a moratorium on executions for more than 30 years.

The accused were not identified.

Two suicide bombers riding a scooter died in the blast on March 6, 2020 when they detonated their explosives at a police van near the heavily fortified embassy in a Tunis suburb.

Aside from the policeman killed, four other officers and a civilian were wounded.

It was among a string of deadly jihadist attacks that killed dozens of security personnel, civilians and foreign tourists in the country after its 2011 revolution.

Authorities in more recent years say they have made significant progress in the struggle against jihadists.

Five people were arrested for the attack near the embassy.

A specialist anti-terrorism court condemned two of the accused to death and a third to life in prison, the Tunisian media reports said. They added that the other two accused received prison terms of three and four years.

The spokesman for the Tunis prosecutor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.