Tunisia shooting: One dead after two men on a motorcycle open fire on three police officers in Sousse

Authorities have said a search is underway for the attackers who struck in the city where a gunman killed 38 holidaymakers in June

Three policeman have been shot at on the outskirts of Sousse (FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)

Officials on the outskirts of the coastal Tunisian city of Sousse have launched a major search operation, after two men on a motorcyle armed with a rifle opened fire on three policemen, killing one.

The victim died on the way to hospital, according to the Tunisian Interior Ministry.

Security officials said in a statement earlier that the other two men were also hit, but the Interior Ministry has since confirmed that this was not the case and the men were unharmed.

The two men used a rifle during the attack, Sahbi Jouini, a police official, told The Associated Press.

Officials are now working to track down the attackers, who shot at police officer who were waiting to be picked up and taken to the nearby town of Kairouan.

The incident comes less than two months after a gunman aligned with the extremist group Isis opened fire on a beach in the city. Some 38 tourists, 30 of whom were British, were killed in the shooting.

In the wake of the massacre, the Tunisian police has carried out sweeps across the country, and have arrested hundreds of people in an effort to crack down on the terrorist threat against the state.

Government officials have pinned the blame on neighboring Libya, which they say is harboring militants targeting the country.

Additional reporting by AP