1 Tunisian policeman killed while dispersing protesters in Kasserine

One Tunisian policeman was killed while dispersing crowds of demonstrators in the impoverished town of Kasserine as protests continued for a second day following the death of a local man, a spokesman for the Interior Minister Walid Lougini said late on Wednesday.

Protesters pelted the police car with stones, causing the vehicle to overturn, the spokesman told Radio Mosaique.

Reda Yahyaoui, a young Kasserine resident, was electrocuted on Saturday after climbing a utility pole and threatening suicide in protest at his exclusion from a list of applicants for government jobs — reminiscent of the events in 2011 that set off the revolution.

In 2011, Mohamed Bouazizi, a young fruit seller, set himself on fire after being humiliated by a policewoman, leading to furious protests that quickly spread and developed into the revolution that overthrew Zein al Abidine Ben Ali and set off a chain reaction of Arab uprisings.

The demonstrators in Kasserine, who rallied through the night despite the curfew, were reported to have burnt the local office of the ruling Nidaa Tunis party.

During Wednesday’s protest they chanted the slogan “work, freedom, dignity” to highlight their demands.

Source: MENA