Two civilians were killed and eight injured in overnight clashes with police in a provincial town, the Tunisian government said today, the deadliest incident in a series of riots that started nearly a month ago.
Eight civilians were killed in clashes with police in two provincial towns in the past 24 hours, the Tunisian government said today, the deadliest incidents yet in an unprecedented wave of unrest.
Witnesses said another three people were killed in clashes today in a third town, but there was no official confirmation of those accounts.
People taking part in the unrest, which has lasted for nearly a month, say they are angry at a lack of jobs and investment, but officials say the rioting is the work of a minority of violent extremists intent on damaging Tunisia.
A leading opposition figure urged President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to order security forces to stop using fire arms.
The government said five people have now died as a result of clashes in the town of Thala, about 200km southwest of the capital, and three people were killed in separate disturbances in the nearby town of Gassrine.
It said that in both places police had faced violent crowds trying to destroy public buildings, and opened fire in self-defence after shots in the air failed to stop rioters.
"Police are doing nothing more than carrying out their legal and legitimate mission to maintain order and guarantee the safety and liberty of citizens," it said in a statement. "What no democratic state will allow ... is the resort to violence and the use by certain extremists of prohibited weapons such as Molotov cocktails and fire bombs and the throwing of stones against people and public and private property."
Two witnesses in the town of Rgeb, 210km west of Tunis, said three people there, including one woman, were killed in clashes with police today.
Unrest in the past few days in neighbouring Algeria over unemployment and food prices has killed two people and injured hundreds, officials said. The violence in Algeria appeared to have subsided today and there was no evidence of any link to the Tunisian unrest.
Nejib Chebbi, founder of Tunisia's PDP opposition party, said in a statement sent to the media an end to the use of fire arms was needed "to spare the lives of innocent citizens and to respect their right to protest peacefully."
His party has no seats in parliament but Western diplomats say he is the most credible leader in Tunisia's weak and divided opposition.
Mr Ben Ali has said the violent protests are unacceptable and could discourage investors and tourists who provide a large part of the country's revenues.
Tunisian authorities say they have responded to protesters' grievances by launching, with employers, a programme to urgently give jobs to 50,000 unemployed graduates.
The United States said on Friday it called in Tunisia's ambassador in Washington to express concern about the protests. The country has in the past been praised by Western allies as a model of stability in the Arab world.
Before this weekend's violence, two people had been killed in the unrest. Another two killed themselves in acts of protest, including one man who set himself on fire last month, triggering the series of riots.
Demonstrations are rare in Tunisia, which has had only two presidents since independence from France 55 years ago. Rights groups say the government does not tolerate dissent, but officials deny this and say they are committed to democracy.
Tunisia has one of the most open economies in the region and has recorded strong economic growth in the past decade - though this was trimmed by the slowdown in the euro zone, its main trading partner.
However, Tunisia's growth has not been fast enough to satisfy demand for jobs. This is particularly acute among the young in the interior of the country, away from the more prosperous coastal areas.