UPDATED at 11:09 a.m. EST to reflect the rising death toll.
An attack on a leading museum in the Tunisian capital Wednesday left 22 people dead, including 17 foreign tourists and two of the gunmen, according to Prime Minister Habib Essid.
Gunmen entered the building, trapping several people inside, before police surrounded and then stormed the museum, ending the standoff. PM Essid said two of the attackers were also killed in a gunfight with police, and that security forces are hunting for two or three others believed to have been involved.
The Prime Ministers said Polish, French, Columbian, Japanese, Australian, and Spanish tourists were among the victims.
PM Essid gives nationalities of dead foreigners: 4 italians 1 French 2 Columbians 5 Japanese 1 Polish 1 Australian 2 Spanish 1 still unknown— Mischa (@MischaB_L) March 18, 2015
A Tunisian state news report said the shooting broke out around midday local time at the Bardo Museum, which is adjacent to the national Parliament building in Tunis.
MOI Many tourists were evacuated but there is still some hostages . Anti-terror cell is inside the building trying to save the rest #Tunisia— أسمى غريبي (@AsmaGhribi) March 18, 2015
Photos purportedly taken inside the museum show security forces responding to the scene. Based on other photos taken inside the building, several children seem to have been in the museum at the time of the attack.
Les forces de sécurité à l'intérieur du musée #Bardo via @TUNISCOPEcom pic.twitter.com/CXk2AaP7J4— Khaled Belkhodja (@KBelkodja) March 18, 2015
صورة من متحف باردو . #Tunisie pic.twitter.com/kEqeKv7bdh— Farouk Afi (@farouk3afi) March 18, 2015
Tunisian radio station Radio Mosaique said that three men dressed in military-style clothing may have taken hostages inside the museum. It is still unclear who is behind the attack. The national museum is the oldest in the country and has long been a tourist attraction.
Video from the scene shows armed security forces who entered the building.
The museum chronicles Tunisia's history and includes one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics. It is located near the country's Parliament building, which was placed on lockdown as the attack was underway. A journalist relayed information from a friend at the scene, describing how the politicians sang the national anthem while sheltering in the building.
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Tunisia has struggled with violence by Islamic extremists since overthrowing its dictator in 2011, and is seen as the birthplace of the Arab Spring movement. The country made a successful transition to democracy with the first free and fair presidential election in 2014 that remained peaceful.
But the country is not without its problems. Thousands of Tunisian fighters have flocked to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State, and hundreds of those fighters have returned home in recent months, according to statistic from the US-based monitoring organization Soufan.
Tourism is important to the Tunisian economy, and some feared that the attack on the prominent attraction would have a damaging effect.
The U.S. State Department condemned the "wanton violence" at the museum and applauded the police response in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
"We commend Tunisian authorities’ rapid response to today’s wanton violence and their efforts to resolve the hostage situation and restore calm," read the statement.
Additional information from The Associated Press.