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Witnesses in Sousse say security forces fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of angry protesters blocking roads.
Violent protests have erupted in several Tunisian cities, including the capital Tunis and the coastal city of Sousse, as anger mounts over economic hardship.
Saturday night’s protests come as Tunisia marks the tenth anniversary of the revolution that toppled late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring uprisings.
Protests in Siliana and other towns began on Friday after a video posted to social media showed a policeman screaming and pushing a shepherd whose sheep entered the local government headquarters.
Dozens of demonstrators built barricades and set fire to objects to block the streets of the city, 130 km from Tunis.
The protests pose a challenge to the government of Hicham Mechichi, who earlier reshuffled the cabinet with new ministers, including the interior, justice and energy ministries.
Witnesses in Sousse said security forces fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of angry protesters who were blocking roads and burning tires.
Security sources said young men from Sousse broke into shops. Clashes took place in the town of Kalaa Kebira near Sousse.
A decade after the revolution against widespread unemployment, poverty, corruption and injustice, Tunisia has progressed smoothly towards democracy, but its economic situation has worsened with poor public services and the country on the brink of collapse. bankruptcy.
Violent protests also took place in several parts of the capital, including Ettadamen, Mallassin and Fouchana and Sijoumi. There were also night demonstrations and riots in Kef and Bizerte.
Birthday muted
No festive celebration took place to mark the revolution in Tunisia.
The government of the North African nation has imposed a four-day lockdown from Thursday to contain the coronavirus, banning protests expected that day.
Some citizens questioned the timing of the four-day lockdown.
The revolution was unintentionally sparked by a desperate act of a 26-year-old fruit seller, Mohammed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire on December 17, 2010 to protest police humiliation in Sidi Bouzid, a neglected interior town from Tunisia.
Bouazizi’s death sparked heated discontent and mass protests against poverty, unemployment and repression.
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