Mass protests against austerity, unemployment shake Tunisia

[TexasTowelie]

Tunisia has erupted over the past three days in demonstrations and violent clashes with security forces. Workers and youth have taken to the streets in at least 18 different towns in protest against a 2018 austerity budget that will only exacerbate prevailing conditions of mass unemployment, poverty and social inequality in the North African nation.

The Interior Ministry acknowledged that a 55-year-old man was killed during a protest on Monday in the town of Tebourba, about 20 miles outside of the capital of Tunis, and five other people there were wounded. There were conflicting reports over the cause of death, with some protesters saying the man had been run down by a police vehicle, while the authorities claimed he had been overcome by tear gas.

In a number of areas, the army has been called out to back up local security forces and protect government buildings and banks.

In the town of Nefza, in the north of the country, protesters set fire to both the police station and the local government’s department of finance office.

Read more: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/01/10/tuni-j10.html