At least three Islamist militants and a Tunisian soldier were killed on Sunday in clashes in the central Kasserine province, near the Algerian border, a security source said.
Islamic State militants have claimed two major attacks on foreign tourists this year in Tunisia, and the army is fighting a low-level conflict against pockets of other militants in rural areas near the frontier with Algeria.
Sunday's clashes came two days after Islamist militants beheaded a Tunisian teenager in the central province of Sidi Bouzid and sent his head to his family after accusing him of spying for the military.