Demonstrators and security forces clashed again yesterday in Algeria's mainly Berber region of Kabylie and medical sources said the death toll from a week of violence had risen to at least 40.
Two protesters were killed by gunfire yesterday in two villages near the provincial capital of Bejaia, on the Mediterranean coast east of the capital Algiers. Three others were wounded by gunshots, residents said.
In Tizi Ouzou, between Algiers and Bejaia, masked stonethrowing demonstrators and police firing tear gas canisters fought pitched battles, and three people died from bullet wounds suffered on Saturday.
Most of the protesters killed by security forces in clashes sparked by reports of police brutality have been in their early 20s. More than 160 people have been wounded. One young man was killed at point blank range.
Interior Minister Noureddine Zerhouni, who travelled yesterday to Tizi Ouzou, criticised local authorities for failing to tackle the unrest.
The Algerian government, urging the population in Kabylie to remain calm, said on Saturday that nine demonstrators had been killed in Bejaia province and six in Tizi Ouzou, while 284 members of the riot police had been injured.
The unrest in Kabylie erupted a week ago after a paramilitary gendarme shot dead an 18-yearold held in custody. Berber militants responded with calls for protests and violence rapidly spread to remote villages across the mountainous region.
The violence has had political repercussions, as a small party, well represented in Kabylie, said it would withdraw its two ministers from the coalition government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.