Tunisian authorities detain 30 in aftermath of bus attack

Tunisian authorities have detained 30 people in the aftermath of a suicide bombing targeting a bus carrying members of the presidential guards, and identified the bomber as a local street vendor.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement Thursday that forensic police identified the attacker as 27-year-old Houssam ben Hedi ben Miled Abdelli by his DNA. It said he was from a working class neighborhood on the edge of Tunis.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack on a bus in central Tunis, which left 12 dead plus the attacker.

In a later statement, the ministry said it detained 30 people suspected of links to armed groups such as ISIL and seized several weapons in 526 raids around the country over the past 24 hours. It didn't say whether any of the suspects had ties to the attack.

The suicide bombing came 10 days after authorities increased the security level in the capital and deployed security forces in unusually high numbers.

Earlier this month, Tunisian authorities announced the dismantling of a cell it said had planned attacks at police stations and hotels in the seaside city of Sousse, about 95 miles southeast of Tunis.

Fighting armed groups has become a major challenge for Tunisia, the small North African country that was hailed as a blueprint for democratic change in the region after an uprising in 2011 ousted autocrat Zine Abidine Ben Ali.

A luxury beach hotel in Sousse was hit by an attack last June that left 38 people dead. In March, an attack at Tunisia's famed Bardo museum near the capital killed 22 people. ISIL claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press