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Violence spreads in Tunissia, 14 kills

Violence spreads in Tunisia against government, 14 civilians were killed in clashes with police.

Fourteen civilians were killed in clashes with the Tunisian police over the weekend, the government said Sunday, in the deadliest violence in a wave of unrest that has lasted nearly a month.

Protesters say they are angry about a lack of jobs, but officials say the rioting is the work of a minority of violent extremists intent on damaging Tunisia.

The government said in a statement that eight people had been killed in clashes in the towns of Thala and Kasserine, both near the border with Algeria, since Saturday night.

The official TAP news agency said later that four civilians had been killed in clashes in a third town, Rgeb, about 130 miles west of Tunis, the capital, and that two more people had been killed in Kasserine Province.

The news agency said the people who were killed had been armed with gasoline bombs, sticks and stones and were attacking public property. Several officers were also wounded, some of them seriously, it said.

An opposition leader, Nejib Chebbi, said President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali should order the police to stop using firearms “to spare the lives of innocent citizens and to respect their right to protest peacefully.”

Officials said the police had fired only in self-defense when violent crowds attacked, ignoring warning shots. The government said in a statement that the police were “doing nothing more than carrying out their legal and legitimate mission to maintain order and guarantee the safety and liberty of citizens.”

In Thala, several residents said by telephone that they had seen several military vehicles enter the town late on Saturday, apparently sent to help quell the violence.

Government officials did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on the casualties or the military involvement. The staff at the hospital in Rgeb declined to answer questions.

President Ben Ali has said the violent protests are unacceptable and could discourage investors and tourists, who provide a large part of the country’s revenues. The authorities say they had responded to the protesters’ grievances by starting a program with employers to provide jobs for 50,000 unemployed graduates.

Tunisia has recorded strong economic growth in the past decade, but it has not been fast enough to satisfy demand for jobs. Unemployment is particularly acute among the young in the interior of the country.

Before this weekend, two people had been killed in the unrest. Another two killed themselves in acts of protest, including one man who set himself on fire last month, setting off the riots.

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