New unrest hits Berber region

A young man walks in a riot-torn street of Akbou, near Bejaia

By North Africa correspondent David Bamford

There has been a day of clashes in the Algerian region of Kabylie between paramilitary police and ethnic Berber demonstrators as renewed unrest spread across the region affecting many towns and villages.

Reports from the biggest regional towns of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia spoke of youths armed with stones attacking government buildings.

Tizi Ouzou has been overwhelmed by massive demonstrations

Police have been responding with tear gas. Several demonstrators and at least one policeman have been killed in nearly a week of unrest after a lull following a wave of Berber protests in April in which 80 people were killed.

Algerian radio said that paramilitary police confronted hundreds of youths who were attacking government buildings and bringing down electricity pylons.

The Berber protestors reportedly set up barricades across main roads and attacked vehicles in an effort to close down the province.

Snowplough

Defence news agencies said that a police snowplough being used to break down the barricades was commandeered by the protestors and over-turned.

Rioting has spread to many towns and villages

Eyewitnesses in Tizi Ouzou described a scene of thick clouds of tear gas as police and stone-throwing demonstrators battle it out in the city centre.

Several people, including a policeman, have been reported killed in the last five days of clashes, though details of casualties are sketchy.

On Monday an estimated 500,000 people demonstrated in Tizi Ouzou, demanding the withdrawal of the paramilitary police and an end to what they describe as government discrimination in the region in its housing and employment policies.