By Tarek Amara
TUNIS (Reuters) - Two civilians were killed and eight injured in overnight clashes with police in a provincial town, the Tunisian government said on Sunday, the deadliest incident in a series of riots that started nearly a month ago.
Witnesses said crowds throwing stones and petrol bombs were clashing with police in another town nearby, and that three people there had been killed by gunfire, but there was no official confirmation of those accounts.
People taking part in the spate of unrest say they are angry at a lack of jobs and investment, but officials say the rioting is the work of a minority of extremists intent on damaging the north African country.
The two deaths confirmed by the authorities happened in clashes late on Saturday in the town of Thala, about 200 km (125 miles) southwest of the capital, near the border with Algeria.
In a statement, the government, quoting an unidentified Interior Ministry official, said police had opened fire after warning shots in the air failed to stop a violent crowd from attacking government buildings.
"The police opened fire in legitimate self-defence and this led to two dead and eight wounded, as well as several wounded among police, three of them seriously," the statement said.
It said the crowd used petrol bombs and stones to attack a filling station, a government building and a police station.
Witnesses in the nearby town of Gassrine, the administrative centre of the region where Thala is located, told Reuters by telephone that unrest which broke out overnight had escalated further on Sunday.
Three witnesses, including one local trade union activist, said they had seen three bodies in Gassrine -- one killed late on Saturday and the others on Sunday.
Government officials did not respond to phone calls from Reuters seeking comment on casualties in Gassrine. Staff at the local hospital refused to answer questions.
"Young men are throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and the police are opening fire everywhere in the streets of Gassrine," Chokri Hayouni, the union activist, told Reuters.
DEATH TOLL
Earlier, at least six residents in Thala who spoke by telephone to Reuters said they had seen several military vehicles enter the town late on Saturday.
There had been no previous reports of the military being brought in to help police quell the rioting. Government officials could not be reached to comment on military involvement.
Several witnesses in Thala also told Reuters they had seen four bodies after the clashes in hospital and at the victims' homes, contradicting the government's death toll.
President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has said the protests are unacceptable and could harm Tunisia's interests by discouraging investors and tourists who provide a large part of the country's revenues.
Tunisian authorities say that, throughout the unrest, police have used force only where necessary to stop protesters endangering life and ransacking government buildings. They also say they are investing millions of dollars in creating new jobs.
The United States said on Friday it called in Tunisia's ambassador in Washington to express concern about the protests. [ID:nN07212433] The country has in the past been praised by Western allies as a model of stability in the Arab world.
Before Saturday night's violence in Thala, 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, triggering the series of riots.
Demonstrations are rare in Tunisia, which has had only two presidents since independence from France 55 years ago. Rights groups say the government does not tolerate dissent, but officials deny this and say they are committed to democracy.
Tunisia has one of the most open economies in the region and has recorded strong economic growth in the past decade -- though this was trimmed by the slowdown in the euro zone, its main trading partner.
However, Tunisia's growth has not been fast enough to satisfy demand for jobs. This is particularly acute among the young in the interior of the country, away from the more prosperous coastal areas.
(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
