Tunisian opposition figure Mohammed Brahmi has been shot dead, according to state media. It is the second killing of a leading opposition politician to take place in the country this year.

"Mohammmed Brahmi, general coordinator of the Popular Movement and member of the National Constituent Assembly, was shot dead outside his home in Ariana," state television and the official TAP news agency reported Thursday.

The Popular Movement Party confirmed his death. Brahmi was in a car outside his home outside of Tunis when gunmen fired several shots at him, Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said. Local media said he was shot 11 times. The 58-year-old held a seat in the assembly tasked with writing Tunisia's new constitution.

Brahmi's death comes a little over six months after another secular politician, Chokri Belaid, was assassinated. Belaid's party and family blamed the ruling Ennahda party for his death, which triggered nationwide protests and the resignation of the prime minister. The political crisis nearly derailed the country's transition following the overthrow of longtime strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

Soon after his death Thursday, crowds gathered to protest in Tunis, as pictured above.

Ennahda released a statement calling Brahmi's death a "cowardly and despicable crime" and urging the government to "arrest those who committed this crime and reveal those behind them who have targeted the stability of the country."

(AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)