Islamic State

But the president warned that the campaign against the group that controls large parts of Syria and Iraq "will not be quick."

Beji Caid Essebsi's office says the president needs the expanded powers to deal with extremists following the attack in Sousse that killed 38 foreign tourists.

Photos released by the Islamist extremist group show a 2,000-year-old stone sculpture of a lion being smashed with sledgehammers.

The early morning attacks on checkpoints were later claimed by the Sinai affiliate of the self-described Islamic State.

Prime Minister Habib Essid also said that most of the tourists killed at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse were British tourists.

Mere days ago, militants with the self-declared Islamic State had captured the town for the second time this year.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights calls it a massacre and the worst such incident carried out by ISIS fighters since last year.

More than 10 people are reported dead at the Shiite mosque in the capital after an attacker detonated an explosive belt after Friday prayers.

The battle began with one or more car bombs set off inside the Syrian city. There are unconfirmed reports that Islamic State fighters hid themselves among refugees flooding into Kobani.