Angered by the government’s decision to reopen a controlled landfill in the southern town of Agareb, protesters in Tunisia torched a police station on Tuesday.
According to witnesses, demonstrations intensified a day after a man died by suffocation from gas fired by the police.
The Interior Ministry said the man, Abderrazek Lachheb was not among the protesters and had died at his home, six kilometres away.
Violent face-off took place on the town’s streets as police fired tear gas to disperse protesters trying to block roads while throwing stones at them.
The incident is the first serious test facing Najla Bouden’s government, appointed by president Kais Saied last month, in how to respond to protests over poor public services and fragile social and environmental conditions.
The Agareb landfill, 20km from Sfax, was closed this year after residents complained about the spread of diseases in what they described as an environmental disaster.
The closure caused avoidable accumulation of household waste for about a month in the streets, markets, and hospitals of Sfax, the second largest Tunisian city, prompting thousands to protest.
Saied has faced mounting criticism since he assumed executive authority in July, shelving aside most of the constitution to seize almost total power in what critics have described as a coup.