TUNIS, July 17 (KUNA) -- Bloody clashes in various Tunisian cities left six policemen wounded including four who were admitted into the hospital under intensive care.
Tunisian police fired bullets into the air to disperse rioters in the capital early on Sunday and were attacked by crowds throwing molotiv cocktails in another city, in the most violent clashes yet involving extremists.
Sunday's violence was sparked by an incident on Friday when police, trying to break up an anti-government demonstration in the centre of Tunis, fired tear gas inside a mosque, according to an Interior Ministry statement.
In the Intilaka district in the west of Tunis, about 200 youths set fire to a police station.
Police responded by firing into the air and using tear gas, while a police helicopter hovered over the district.
The ministry blamed a number of radical outsides for the riots which attempt to undermine the atmosphere of peace and stability in the country.
It added that the rioters managed to confiscate weaponry, burning down of a security center and nearby shops and cars.
Tunisians overthrew autocratic leader Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in a revolution in January that electrified the Arab world and inspired uprisings in Egypt and elsewhere.
Since then the caretaker authorities, who say they are committed to dismantling Ben Ali's repressive rule, have lifted a ban on Islamist parties and released hundreds of their followers from prison.
But the Islamists' resurgence has led to friction with the establishment and some who believe the Islamists are becoming too powerful and could undermine the country's secular values. (end) nm.tg KUNA 172209 Jul 11NNNN