Two dead in fresh Tunisia unrest

TUNIS: Four people died in clashes between protesters and police in the northwestern Tunisian town of Kef on Saturday, union activists and witnesses said.

Several hundred demonstrators had been calling for the city's police chief, Khaled Ghazouani, to be sacked for abuse of power, the government news agency reported.

The situation degenerated when Ghazouani slapped one of the protesters and the crowd tried to rush the police station and set it ablaze.

Police opened fire, killing two demonstrators, aged 19 and 36, and seriously wounding three others, said union sources and an interior ministry source.

Two of those injured later died of their wounds, union activists and a local resident told media later Saturday.

A union source said Ghazouni had subsequently been arrested and the situation was calm late Saturday.