Tensions grow over protester's death in Tunisia

Thousands of people on Tuesday attended the funeral of a protester killed a day earlier during clashes in southern Tunisia amid escalating tensions over social and labor issues across the North African country.

Anouar Sakrafi, in his early 20s, died of wounds sustained on Monday, when he was run over by a national guard vehicle during clashes with security forces outside an oil and gas installation.

The Tunisian Health Ministry confirmed that a young protester was killed after a police vehicle "accidentally" ran him over at the site.

The deadly incident took place at El Kamour oil and gas pumping station in Tataouine region, which is located about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of the capital Tunis.

Media reports said on Tuesday that a stream of vehicles headed for his funeral in his home town of Bir Lahmer, which is located 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the city of Tataouine.

Thousands of people chanted slogans such as "With our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for you, martyr!"

The National Coordination of Social Movements, a group set up to coordinate protests across Tunisia, blamed President Beji Caid Essebsi for Sakrafi's death.

"The head of state is responsible for this death, for what happened in Tataouine and in other regions, especially after his speech" on deploying the army, the group said.

Earlier this month, President Essebsi said the army would protect key economic installations from being disrupted by protests.

Angry demonstrators have been camping outside El Kamour station for nearly a month.

According to the health ministry, at least 50 people were hospitalized on Monday after suffering from broken bones or the effects of tear gas during clashes in the troubled region. Authorities said about 20 members of security forces were wounded in the fierce scuffles.

Fighting also erupted overnight during a protest in Kebili, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Tataouine, in support of El Kamour protesters.

Dozens of people also demonstrated on Tuesday morning in the central town of Gafsa.

Two protests were held in the capital Tunis, with demonstrators echoing the rallying cry of Tataouine residents and chanting, "We won't give up!"

National guard spokesman Khalifa Chibani has warned of further escalation of the ongoing social unrest across the country.

"There is incitement on social media... calls for civil disobedience... and even a coup d'etat," local radio Mosaique FM quoted him as saying on Tuesday.

Tunisian Parliament Speaker Mohamed Ennaceur in a special sitting of lawmakers said the country was "passing through a delicate phase."

Meanwhile, Tunisia’s La Presse newspaper has warned that "the anger of the protesters (could) snowball."

It said the Tunis government must tackle the issue, which "makes Tunisians feel that nothing has changed since January 14, 2011," the day former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country. "Otherwise, the worst is to be feared."

In January 2016, Tunisia was rocked by another wave of social unrest since the 2011 uprising that toppled Ben Ali. In 2016, anger erupted after the death of a 28-year-old unemployed man, who was electrocuted when he climbed a power pole while protesting in the central town of Kasserine. The unrest had echoes of the public rage after the death of a young fruit seller who set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid in December 2010 in protest at unemployment and police harassment.

Six years after the uprising ousted Ben Ali, Tunisia is praised as a model of transition but it still struggles to address demands for jobs and opportunities in marginalized regions.

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