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| Africa North |
| Algeria Unrest Claims 22 People: State Media |
| 2015-07-09 |
| [ALMANAR.LB] At least 22 people have died in festivities between Berber and Arab communities in southern Algeria on the edge of the Sahara desert, the national news agency APS reported Wednesday. It was the bloodiest toll in two years of frequent festivities between the communities. APS said another 19 people maimed in two days of festivities between Chaamba Arabs and Mozabite Berbers in the M'zab valley had shuffled off the mortal coil, raising the toll since Tuesday to 22. Dozens of other people were hurt in the Tuesday-Wednesday violence, the agency said, citing hospital sources and local officials. Homes, shops, public buildings, cars and palm groves were set on fire in the area of Guerrara and the region's main town of Ghardaia, 600 kilometers south of Algiers. Interior Minister Nouredine Bedoui travelled to the stricken region, APS reported, as police reinforcements were dispatched from Algiers. The latest round of festivities in M'zab broke out last week, prompting the deployment of anti-riot personnel who have fired tear gas to disperse crowds. Hundreds of homes and shops, mostly of Mozabites, have been ransacked in and around Ghardaia since centuries-old good ties between the area's Arabs and Berbers broke down in December 2013, mostly over property disputes and after vandals destroyed a historic Berber shrine in December 2013. Ghardaia is a UNESCO world heritage site renowned for its traditional white-washed houses and bustling market, selling jewelry, carpets and leather. |
| Posted by:Fred |