Tunisia's Sousse struck by suicide bombing: Interior Ministry

"A dark-skinned youth committed suicide by blowing himself up on a Sousse beach," the ministry statement read.

An investigation has been launched with the aim of determining the attacker's motives, the statement added.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that a "suspicious" individual had attempted to enter the city's Riad al-Nakheel Hotel, but that security guards had denied him entry and chased him to a nearby beach where he detonated an explosive device.

The country has been gripped by political turbulence since the July assassination of opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi.

Brahmi was shot dead outside his home near Tunis on July 25, which led to a general strike and days of protests that paralyzed the capital.

At the time, security officials said Brahmi had been assassinated with the same weapons used to kill another opposition figure, Chokri Belaid, in February.

Authorities blame both assassinations – along with the recent killing of eight soldiers on Tunisia's western Chaambi Mountain – on radical Salafists.

englishnews@aa.com.tr