CLASHES BROKE out in a suburb of Tunis late yesterday, the first time the Tunisian capital has been affected in the worst civil unrest the country has experienced in decades. Officials say 23 civilians have died while trade unions claim about 50 people have lost their lives in recent days.
The interior ministry said four more civilians were killed in clashes yesterday in Kasserine, about 200km (120 miles) southwest of the capital Tunis.
“The town of Kasserine experienced violence, arson and groups attacking police stations . . . armed with Molotov cocktails and iron bars,” the ministry said in a statement. “The police were obliged to defend themselves.”
The AFP news agency quoted trade union officials saying there was “chaos” in Kasserine and that about 50 people had been killed across the country in the past three days – more than double the official tally.
Amnesty International gave a figure of 23 dead, while Souhayr Belhassan, who chairs the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights, said the figure was 35 people killed.
Witnesses said police fired tear gas as new protests erupted overnight in two other towns in the west of Tunisia, despite a vow by the president to create 300,000 jobs before the end of 2012. The Tunisian government ordered the closure of schools and universities in an attempt to quell the unrest.
The rare wave of protest began last month in the region of Sidi Bouzid after a 26-year-old university graduate set himself alight after police confiscated his fruit and vegetable cart. He later died.
The incident resonated widely in a country of high youth unemployment outside coastal zones.
President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, an authoritarian leader who has ruled Tunisia for 23 years, said the protests were orchestrated by “outside powers and masked gangs”. The regime however acknowledged protesters’ grievances and responded to the unrest by promising to create jobs and cut taxes on firms that hired young people.
France, the former colonial power that enjoys close business ties in Tunisia, joined the EU and the UN in deploring the violence but stopped short of apportioning responsibility.
“We also appeal for calm because only dialogue will resolve the economic and social problems in Tunisia,” French government spokesman François Baroin said.
Tunisia’s economy is among north Africa’s most dynamic, with Mr Ben Ali succeeding in attracting considerable inward investment. However the government exerts tight social control.
The European Commission says participation and debate were restricted during the 2009 presidential poll, when Mr Ben Ali got 90 per cent of the vote.
Many human rights activists and journalists have been beaten up and imprisoned, and state surveillance is extensive.
About 100 journalists from Tunisian newspapers, which are usually deferential to the government, reportedly gathered at their union’s headquarters in Tunis yesterday to protest at what they said were government restrictions on reporting of the violence.