TUNIS, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian jihadist group "Okba Ibn Nafaa", part of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, on Monday claimed the attack on a patrol of National Guard, killing nine people and injured three others, in northwestern Tunisia.

"Okba Ibn Nafaa" is pursued by Tunisian security forces for several years in northwestern Tunisia.

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said the government will avenge the martyrs as soon as possible, and the war against terror is "a long battle."

According to Tunisian Interior Ministry, the terrorist attack consisted of an anti-tank mine that exploded on the route of National Guard patrol.

Since 2011, the Tunisian security and military facilities have been a main target for radical groups and organizations.

In 2015, three attacks targeted respectively Bardo Museum in Tunis, a hotel in Sousse in east Tunisia, and a bus of the presidential guard in the capital, killing more than 70 people, mostly foreign tourists and security forces.