Tunisia Opposition Leader Mohamed Brahmi Assassinated in Front of Family

Tunisia opposition member Mohamed Brahmi has been shot dead in the capital Tunis in the second assassination of an opposition politician of this year.

Brahmi, member of the Arab nationalist and secular Movement of the People party, was shot 11 times outside his home in the al-Ghazal neighbourhood, according to lawyer Khaled Khichi.

Movement of the People party official Mohsen Nabti told local media that Brahmi was killed in front of his wife and children

Six months ago, leftist politician Chokri Belaid was killed as he left his house in Tunis.

The assassination prompted the resignation of the Islamist prime minister Hamadi Jebali and a political crisis that nearly derailed Tunisia's transition.

The interior ministry blamed the killing of Belaid, an outspoken critic of Jebali's ruling Ennahda party, on a cell of radical Islamist militants.

In April, the government released the photos and names of five Islamists allegedly implicated in the attack, including the alleged gunman, and appealed for help in arresting them.