State of emergency declared in southern Tunisian town

The Tunisian president has declared a state of emergency in Douz, a southern desert town, after several days of clashes between rival groups left a number of people injured.

“Following the dangerous deterioration in the security situation…President Moncef Marzouki decided to declare a state of emergency in the South Douz region on 8 May until 22 May,” his office said in a statement late on Thursday.

At least 50 people have been injured in fighting between residents of southern towns Ghlissia and western Douz in the past week, with rival groups firing birdshot and hurling rocks at each other, according to Mohamed Ali Aroui, an interior ministry spokesperson, who spoke to the AFP.

Clashes broke out due to a land dispute, with residents from both towns claiming ownership over an area of Toual el-Hadhlil where an oil company is due to carry out potentially lucrative oil drilling and prospecting works.

The Ministry of Interior has imposed an indefinite 9pm-6am curfew and on Friday the town’s governor said calm had been restored to the area with a plan in place to solve the disagreement.

“Roads have been reopened and sit-ins staged by the two rival clans have been dispersed,” Omar al-Thabet told the Anadolu Agency.

“The two tribes signed an agreement to assign a committee to decide on the rights to each party to ownership of the disputed land,” he added.

It is not the first time there has been unrest in Douz, with a state emergency imposed three years ago after clashes erupted between rival youth groups during an uprising that led to the overthrow of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.