TUNIS – At least eight Tunisian policemen and two Islamist militants were killed on Wednesday, Oct. 23, when they clashed during a raid by security forces in Sidi Bouzid in the south of the country, security sources and state television said.

Tunisian authorities say Ansar al-Sharia, one of the Islamist militant movements to emerge since the country’s 2011 uprising, is behind a string of attacks on security forces.

Officials say it has ties to al-Qaeda’s North Africa affiliate.

Wednesday’s violence came just days after security forces killed 10 militants blamed for attacking Tunisian police patrols in a remote area near the Algerian border and killing two officers.

Ansar al-Sharia is just one of the hardline Islamist groups based in North Africa. Tunisia’s moderate Islamist-led government two months ago declared it a terrorist organization, after blaming it for murdering two opposition leaders.

Meanwhile, thousands of opposition activists have protested in central Tunis, on Wednesday, demanding the resignation of Tunisia’s Islamist-led government, before a national dialogue aimed at ending months of political deadlock.

Ansar al-Sharia’s leader in Tunisia is a former al-Qaeda fighter in Afghanistan, who is accused of having his followers to attack the U.S. embassy compound in Tunis a year ago.