Death Toll in Tunisia Museum Attack Rises to 23

The death toll in Tunisia rose to 23 Thursday after a group of gunmen reportedly shot at tourists in the North African country's capital as they exited tour buses to visit a popular museum.

Authorities are still searching for two or three gunmen involved in Wednesday's attack, when the suspects opened fire on tourists exiting buses at Tunisia's National Bardo Museum. News reports indicate that tourists from Japan, Germany and Spain were killed in the attack, among other countries.

While two of the gunmen were killed by police, officials say another two or three remain on the loose. Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid said that while the government had been following the activities of one of the gunmen, the group of attackers has not been linked to any extremist group.

Essid told the French radio station RTL that two of the suspects in the shooting have been identified as Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, adding that the former was "known to the security services, he was flagged and monitored."

"We are in the process of further investigation. We cannot say which organization they belong to," Essid continued.

"It's a cowardly attack mainly targeting the economy of Tunisia," Essid said following the attack. "We should unite to defend our country."

According to the Associated Press, Wednesday's attack proves threatening to Tunisia's heavy reliance on the tourism industry. The North African country was considered to be a success story of the unruly Arab Spring, but Wednesday' recent attack is predicted to serve as a blow to its tourism-reliant economy.