Manama: Six Tunisians who have reportedly joined the Syrian resistance were killed last week, a Tunisian daily reported.

News about the death of the six, all from the town of Beni Guerdane, close to the Libyan border and 500km south of the capital Tunis, reached their hometown on Thursday and Friday, Assabah said.

The six had recently gone to Syria to join the Free Syrian Army and were killed in Homs and Idlib, two opposition strongholds in the unrest against the government.

According to the daily, four more Tunisians were arrested after they entered Syria clandestinely from Turkey.

Several Tunisians, motivated mainly by religious fervor, have throughout the years sought to join resistance groups in Iraq, Palestine and Syria.

Tunisia was among the first Arab countries to expel Syrian diplomats.