Tunisian security forces on Friday managed to arrest at least 15 people suspected of involvement in Wednesday's armed clashes in the mountainous area south of the capital Tunis, a security source told the Tunisian state news agency TAP.

The armed clashes took place on Wednesday in Sidi Ali Belaoun province in Sidi Bouzid governorate, Tunisia's arid heartland, killing six officers and injuring several others among the National Guard.

The source said that security forces put in place massive checkpoints on all the roads and streets of the province, also resorting to the use of helicopters to monitor activities in the region.

Tunisia has recently been rocked by a series of attacks targeting its security forces, which the government attributed to the banned conservative religious group Ansar Sharia.

The group was categorized as a terrorist organization last August after being accused of involvement in the political assassinations that targeted two leftist politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi.