ALGIERS (Reuters) - Anti-government protests in Algeria have left 12 more people dead, including five members of the security forces, as unrest spreads across the country, residents and Algerian newspapers said on Tuesday.
Clashes between stone-throwing youths and security forces have erupted almost daily in the last two months, in a direct challenge to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the military establishment backing him.
Largely confined to the Berber-speaking Kabylie area until spreading to Algiers last Thursday, the protests are now rolling across other parts of the country.
Four people including a paramilitary gendarme and a policeman were killed during clashes on Monday night in the Berber town of Akbou, about 90 miles east of Algiers, residents said.
Djamel Ferdjallah, a member of parliament of the Rally for Culture and Democracy opposition party, told Reuters from Akbou he had confirmed the deaths with hospital sources. He said police had opened fire to quell rioting.
Le Matin newspaper said that in an earlier incident in Akbou at least 20 protesters had been wounded when gendarmes opened fire to protect their barracks.
In Batna, 270 miles southeast of Algiers, a 15-year-old boy was killed and several public buildings were ransacked as hundreds of youths fought street battles with security forces on Monday, residents said.
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Clashes between stone-throwing youths and security forces have erupted almost daily in the last two months, in a direct challenge to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the military establishment backing him.
Largely confined to the Berber-speaking Kabylie area until spreading to Algiers last Thursday, the protests are now rolling across other parts of the country.
Four people including a paramilitary gendarme and a policeman were killed during clashes on Monday night in the Berber town of Akbou, about 90 miles east of Algiers, residents said.
Djamel Ferdjallah, a member of parliament of the Rally for Culture and Democracy opposition party, told Reuters from Akbou he had confirmed the deaths with hospital sources. He said police had opened fire to quell rioting.
Le Matin newspaper said that in an earlier incident in Akbou at least 20 protesters had been wounded when gendarmes opened fire to protect their barracks.
In Batna, 270 miles southeast of Algiers, a 15-year-old boy was killed and several public buildings were ransacked as hundreds of youths fought street battles with security forces on Monday, residents said.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=worldnews&StoryID=77528