Tunisia under curfew as protesters return to streets

TUNISIA was under a nationwide curfew last night after the biggest antigovernment protests there since the country gave birth to the Arab Spring five years ago.

Hailed for the sole peaceful outcome from the string of revolutions, the small North African state has seen large crowds on the streets in recent days protesting over unemployment and rising poverty. Trouble began last weekend when an unemployed 28year-old man who had missed out on a government job was electrocuted as he climbed a pylon during a demonstration in the central city of Kasserine.

His death drew parallels with that of a young market vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, who set fire to himself in December 2010, prompting the protests that ultimately led to the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s longserving dictator.

The interior ministry said yesterday that the 8pm to 5am curfew was necessary to prevent damage to property and ensure public safety. There have been clashes between protesters and police in Tunis, the capital, as well as in Sfax, Kairouan, Sousse, the beach resort that was the site of a terrorist attack last year, and Sidi Bouzid, where Mr Bouazizi committed suicide.

Police stations have been attacked with petrol bombs and stones, while banks and shops have been looted and car tyres set alight by crowds chanting: “Work, freedom, dignity.”

“It’s been seven years of no work for me,” said one protester, Samir, 30. “We’re sick of just promises. We won’t go back to our homes until we get something concrete this time ... We just want to live with dignity.”

Security forces have responded with tear gas. At least 40 officers have been injured and one policeman died after being lynched by demonstrators.

Many of the protesters are believed to be university graduates, who make up a third of Tunisia’s unemployed. Since the 2011 revolution, unemployment rates have risen from 12 per cent to more than 15 per cent, and the im- portant tourism sector has been devastated by terror attacks backed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. June’s attack in Sousse left 38 people dead, including 30 Britons. France, the former colonial power, has promised Tunisia a billion euros in aid over five years to try to kick-start its economy.

Tunisia has emerged as the biggest exporter of Islamist jihadists of any Muslim country. At least 2,400 Tunisians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with Isil since 2011.