But Tunisia has seen instability as it struggles with a post-revolutionary economy and years of political turmoil, including political assassinations that killed two major opposition figures, popular left-wing politician Shokri Belaid and progressive leader Mohamed Brahimi.
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Security sources said the guards were boarding the bus to be taken to the presidential palace on the outskirts of the city when it blew up.
According to BBC, no group has yet said it was behind the attack and Reuters news agency cited a source who said that a bomber had probably detonated explosives in the vehicle.
Tunisia has largely avoided the turmoil and violence that swept the region in recent years, resisting extremist ideology even during the unrest caused by the recent violence and following the 2011 ouster of then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. IS also claimed responsibility for the Bardo museum attack in March where 22 people died.
In June, a gunman reportedly affiliated to Islamic State (IS), killed 38 European tourists in the coastal resort of Sousse.
The blast hit a bus carrying members of the country’s elite presidential guard on a tree-lined avenue in the center of Tunis.
“This is an evolution in the behaviour of the terrorists”, said Habib Essid, Tunisian prime minister, after an emergency security meeting.
Police at the scene in Tunis, Tunisia.
US Secretary of State John Kerry “was proud to stand with Tunisian leaders earlier this month in Tunis and reaffirm our countries’ extensive economic, governance, and security cooperation”, a spokesman for his department said.
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Thousands of Tunisians are fighting in neighbouring Libya, as well as in Iraq and Syria on the side of jihadists.
