Tunisia arrested nine suspects in connection with the attack on a museum in the capital, AFP reported Thursday.
Authorities said two suspects have been identified and another seven captured for questioning a day after the assault. Shootings at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis killed at least 21 people, including 20 foreign tourists and one policeman, the country's deadliest attack in a decade. Dozens more were injured.
"The security forces were able to arrest four people directly linked to the (terrorist) operation and five suspected of having ties to the cell," the president's office said in a statement.
Gunmen also interrupted a parliament session next door to the museum and exchanged gunfire with policemen, who evacuated hostages in the building.
"I was crouching down with my arms over my head, but I was shot in the ear, hand and neck," said 35-year-old Noriko Yuki, a hostage who managed to escape, on Japanese TV. "My mother beside me was shot in the neck."
The violence comes four years after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, a country that was believed to be a success story of the movement after forming a democratic government. The extremists' presence brings to question whether the North African nation is as susceptible to unrest as other countries in the region.
President Beji Caid Essebsi said he was committed to fighting extremists "without mercy to our last breath."
Authorities said at least 3,000 Tunisian extremists have left for the fight in Syria.
