Tunisian officer killed as unrest over joblessness spreads

‘Are we not Tunisians too?

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 long-serving dictator.

Unemployment now stands at more than 15 percent and 32 percent among holders of university degrees, and Kasserine is one of the poorest regions of the North African country.

In the town of Feriana, a policeman died Wednesday during an operation to disperse protesters, the interior ministry said, apparently when his vehicle overturned although the circumstances were unclear.

President Beji Caid Essebsi on an official trip to Australia said he condoned the protests which he argues are in line with the constitution but regretted media’s machinery trying to over blow them.

Tunisia is widely seen as the sole democratic success story of the 2010-11 Arab revolts.

Essid warned for his part that joblessness could not be eradicated overnight, saying: “We don’t have a magic wand”.

An IS suicide bombing also killed 12 presidential guards in the capital in November.

Tensions have risen in the Kasserine region since Sunday when a young man was electrocuted after scaling a transmission tower to protest his rejection for a government job.

TUNIS – Tunisian police officers firing tear gas clashed with hundreds of protesters in at least four separate towns on Tuesday, after demonstrations broke out to demand employment just days after a young, jobless man committed suicide. June’s attack in Sousse left 38 people dead, including 30 Britons. More than 3,000 Tunisians are believed to be fighting in Islamist militant groups in Iraq and Syria.

Responding to the latest protests, Prime Minister Habib Essid’s office said he would return home early from a visit to the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos and would hold an emergency cabinet meeting before visiting Kasserine on Saturday.

For many last Thursday’s anniversary raised mixed feelings, with fierce pride at the revolution tempered by concerns over continued economic problems and a rise in jihadist violence.

President Essebsi on Wednesday announced that the government would seek to employ more than 6,000 youths in Kasserine and start construction and development projects.

The curfew, which runs from 20:00 to 05:00 local time (19:00 to 04:00 GMT), was put in place because of the “danger to the security of the state and it citizens”, the interior ministry said in a statement.