TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — At least six members of Tunisia's national guard were killed Sunday in an apparent attack by an armed group near the Algerian border.

The interior ministry said in a brief statement that six members of a national guard patrol died and another three were wounded following a mine explosion in the west of Tunisia.

The country's official news agency, TAP, put the number of dead at nine. Citing a security official on the scene, TAP said the nine were on a patrol in two vehicles and a grenade was thrown at the first vehicle.

An exchange of gunfire followed, TAP said. It was not immediately clear how many attackers there might have been or whether there were any casualties among them.

The attack took place in a remote mountainous area. Jihadis are known to use the mountainous border region as a base.

Tunisia was the target of deadly attacks by Islamic radicals that killed dozens of people at a beach resort and the country's leading museum in 2015.