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Re-Arab Spring uprising Fresh protests in Tunisia on anniversary, 800 arrested

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The anti-austerity rallies are the latest to hit Tunisia since the beginning of January. Sunday marks seven years since the North African country’s peaceful transition to democracy.

Hundreds of people gathered in the Tunisian capital Tunis on Sunday to protest against austerity and unemployment on the seventh anniversary of the country’s democratic transition of power.

State security forces set up blockades in front of entrances to Habib Bourguiba Avenue, where many people in Tunis rallied at the site widely associated with the 2011 toppling of the country’s former dictatorship.

The powerful UGTT labor union and several political parties, including the opposition Popular Front alliance, had earlier called for the demonstrations to coincide with the anniversary of the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring revolutions.

Weeks of unrest

Anti-austerity protests and nighttime unrest have rocked Tunisia since Monday after the government announced tax hikes and increases in social security contributions at the beginning of January.

One protester has been killed, more than 100 police officers were injured and over 800 people arrested, according to the interior ministry.

The government on Saturday announced a financial aid for the poor and free access to health care for unemployed people. The announcement followed meetings between President Beji Caid Essebsi and multiple labor unions, political parties and companies.

Marking the Arab Spring

Tunisia is widely viewed as the only successful country to transition to democracy as part of the 2011 protests that helped spark revolutions around the Middle East and North Africa.

Tunisia’s transition began after the deadly self-immolation of a street vendor in Tunis to protest against police harassment.

Subsequent demonstrations led Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2011, after 23 years in power.

Although the country went on to adopt a new constitution and hold free elections, multiple governments have struggled to improve Tunisia’s economy after deadly terrorist attacks harmed the country’s vital tourism sector.

Official figures put unemployment at 15 percent nationwide and above 25 percent in certain regions. Some experts have estimated inflation to be over 9 percent.

Around 2,400 Tunisians fighting in Syria: ministry

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TUNIS: At least 2,400 Tunisian jihadists are fighting in Syria, most of them rebels affiliated to the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Tunisia’s interior minister 323986_mainimgsaid Monday.

“According to what we have gathered, there are 2,400 Tunisians who have gone to Syria to fight with Al Nusra Front and the majority of them — 80 percent — with (ISIL),” Lotfi Ben Jeddou told reporters, without specifying his source.

In February, the minister said Tunisian authorities had prevented 8,000 people from travelling to Syria, while some 400 Tunisians had already returned from fighting there.

ISIL, one of the main forces battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, controls certain key regions in northern and northeast Syria and has cut a swathe through northern Iraq in recent weeks.

It is also the most extreme jihadist group in Syria, aiming to create an Islamic state the straddles the border with Iraq but renowned for its abuses of civilians.