Tunisia hit with curfew as unrest grows
Print Edition
Tunisia yesterday declared a nighttime curfew across the country to try to calm the most serious outbreak of social unrest since the 2011 revolution.
Five years after the overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, protests against unemployment and poverty are again shaking the North African nation.
Anger erupted over the death on Saturday of an unemployed young man who was electrocuted when he climbed an electricity pole while demonstrating in central Tunisia.
The interior ministry said the 8pm to 5am curfew was necessary to prevent damage to property and to ensure public safety.
“Anyone disobeying this decision risks prosecution, apart from medical emergencies and those working at night,” it said in a statement.
Authorities called for calm after 16 people were arrested on vandalism charges in a suburb of Tunis, the latest incident in almost a week of unrest.
National Guard units clashed with individuals in balaclavas until early yesterday morning, an official said.
An AFP journalist reported that two household appliance stores and a bank branch had been ransacked on the neighbourhood’s main street and a police post had been burnt.
In central Tunisia, security forces have clashed with protesters in several towns, including in Kasserine where the unrest started, using tear gas against them.
At least three police stations have been attacked over the past 24 hours and 42 members of the security forces have been wounded, officials said.
“This is the most serious social crisis since 2011,” said analyst Selim Kharrat.
The unrest has echoes of the public anger unleashed by the death of a street vendor who set himself on fire in December 2010 in protest at unemployment and police harassment.
That desperate act of defiance provided the spark for the uprising that overthrew Ben Ali and inspired revolutions around the region.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
