The security guard who was stabbed earlier today by a man who attacked him while on duty in front of the Brazilian embassy in Tunis has succumbed to his injuries, the interior ministry said. Tunisiaspeaking of “criminal action”.

THE guard “he was injured by a sharp object from a person whom he was asking why he was on the perimeter of the embassy,” the ministry said in its statement.

Passed away to the hospital shortly after, interior ministry spokesman Fakir Buzgaya told AFP.

“This is a criminal act not related to terrorism,” he added, saying the attacker suffered from “mental illness.”

Law enforcement arrested the assailant after opening fire on him, injuring him in the leg. The man, whose name has not been released, was taken to hospital.

After the 2011 popular uprising that led to the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has seen the rise of jihadist groups. Attacks carried out by jihadists have caused dozens of deaths among tourists and security forces.

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

However, last month, a gendarme opened fire near a synagogue in Djerba.

Three gendarmes and two worshipers — an Israeli-Tunisian and a French-Tunisian — were killed by gunfire from the attacker, before he was killed by police fire.