Tunisians are going to the polls on Sunday to vote for a new parliament for the first time since dictator Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown four years ago.

The 2011 revolution inspired similar popular uprisings which became known as the Arab Spring.

There are as many as 13,000 candidates from about 100 different parties competing for the 217 parliamentary seats.

The two main parties are moderate Islamist Ennahda and a new secular party called Nidaa Tounis.

Around 5 million Tunisians are entitled to vote.

Militants have threatened to disrupt the voting and security forces have been cracking down hard on suspected extremists in the run up to the election.

On Friday security forces killed six people, including five women, after a standoff with an Islamist militant group on the outskirts of Tunis

Presidential elections will be held in November.