Police in Tunisia say they have arrested more than 600 people as a fourth night of violent protests saw protesters return to the streets.
The unrest comes amid a nationwide anti-coronavirus lockdown imposed since Thursday – a decade to the day since dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled from power.
On Monday, crowds of mainly young demonstrators again gathered in the centre of the capital, Tunis, throwing stones and petrol bombs at police.
Security forces responded with tear gas and water cannon.
The latest unrest comes almost exactly 10 years since the Tunisian revolution ushered in democracy and triggered the Arab Spring revolts across the region. However, hopes that this would bring more jobs and opportunities have been disappointed.
Outside Tunis, clashes were reported on Monday in the cities of Kasserine, Gafsa, Sousse and Monastir. A spokesman for the interior ministry said the majority of those arrested since the current wave of protests began on Friday were minors who had been detained over acts of vandalism and looting. Khaled Hayouni said two policemen had been injured.
“This has nothing to do with protest movements that are guaranteed by the law and the constitution,” Mr Hayouni said. “Protests take place in broad daylight… without any criminal acts involved.”
Social tensions have worsened under sporadic lockdown measures and a nightly curfew in place since October to combat the spread of the coronavirus, our correspondent says.
Earlier on Monday, demonstrators gathered outside government offices in Tunis’s Bourguiba Avenue calling for those arrested in recent days to be released. They chanted “no fear, no fear, the street belongs to the people”.
Amnesty International urged authorities to exercise restraint and to uphold the rights of those detained. Tunisia has registered over 177,000 coronavirus cases, including over 5,600 deaths from the disease. And the country’s key tourism industry has been particularly badly hit by the pandemic.
