Demonstrators in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia Tunisia – Nabil Zaghdoud Calm returned this morning to the Tunisian city pf Sidi Bouzid after a night of confrontations between security forces and people calling for the release of their children who had been arrested for participating in protests within the “cradle of the Tunisian revolution” on Wednesday.
Police agents extensively used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters who closed the main city roads, set car tyres on fire, and threw rocks at security forces. The protesters had attempted to break into the government\'s headquarters chanting slogans of toppling the government, the governor, head of the security there and the right to employment.
The clashes resulted in atleast 5 injuries, and dozens of mostly young protesters were arrested. Many opposition parties condemned the “barbaric suppression” of the protesters in Sidi Bouzid while Interior Minister Ali al-Areed accused “political entities” in the opposition of being behind the incidents.
The minister warned in a statement to the official television channel against “the repercussions of a minority’s attempt to impose its opinion on the majority”.
The ruling Ennahda movement accused what she referred to as “regime backwardness remnants” of hindering development projects in the city.
The movement expressed in a statement issued from its municipal office in Sidi Bouzaid “the existence of movements by some well known faces and names in the governorate in collaboration with Nida Tunis or Tunisia Call (the party established by former prime minister Caid Beiji Essebsi,) and its alliance with what the movement described as thieves, vandals, drug and alcohol dealers to spread chaos in Sidi Bouzid.\"
The statement stated the “Ennahda movement will not be terrorised by these moves, will not panic, and they will not delay its project but will make it more determined to chase backward remnants by their names and addresses until Sidi Bouzid is cleared of them.”