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Army seals off Tunisian town after fatal violence [Video]

25 December, 2010 10:01:00 The North Africa Journal

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Demonstrations in Tunisia

18-year old protestor Mohamed Ammeri was killed and others injured when Tunisia's police opened fire on protesters in Menzel Bouzaiene over the weekend. The state-controlled news outlet TAP says the police were forced to use their weapons in self-defense after "a group of individuals set ablaze a railway engine and set fire to three National Guard vehicles before raiding the city's National Guard station."

Local sources say that the protest drew thousands of protestors, a figure also confirmed by Agence France Presse's sources.

AFP says:

<The death comes as riots and demonstrations against unemployment and poor living conditions entered their ninth day in Sidi Bouzid. Unrest scattered across the region after the suicide attempts of two young persons last week. University graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself aflame to protest police officers' confiscation of fruits and vegetables he was selling in a street-side stand; Nagi Felhi electrocuted himself after growing desperate due to his failure to land a job. Hundreds of locals took their dismay to the streets of a number of towns across the region, and Ammari's death has prompted similar marches in the capital. Several hundred activists and students demonstrated in Tunis to show solidarity with Sidi Bouzid protesters on Saturday, carrying banners reading "Shame on the government" and "We deserve jobs." "This march is a message to our brothers in Sidi Bouzid. We tell them that they are not alone and that their demands are legitimate," said Soliman Rouissi, who's a member of a worker's union. In a failed attempt to calm tensions in the region, Tunisian Development Minister Nohamed Nouri Jouini traveled to Sidi Bouzid on Thursday to announce a new $10-million employment program.>