20110112
reuters

TUNIS (Reuters) - Police fired into the air to disperse a crowd ransacking buildings in a Tunis suburb on Tuesday, the first time a wave of violent unrest that officials say has killed 23 civilians has hit the capital.

People taking part in the weeks of clashes rocking Tunisia say they want jobs and better living conditions, but the authorities say the protests have been hijacked by a minority of violent extremists armed with petrol bombs and clubs.

In the strongest U.S. statement on the violence to date, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was "deeply concerned by reports of the use of excessive force by the government of Tunisia".

A Reuters reporter in the working-class Ettadamen neighbourhood of Tunis said he saw hundreds of youths, who had earlier blocked roads with burning tyres and hurled stones at police, try to attack a local government building.

Police fired warning shots into the air and also fired teargas grenades to try to force people back from the building, the reporter said.

"We are not afraid, we are not afraid, we are afraid only of God," the crowds chanted.

The main body of the crowd later dispersed and police were pursuing small groups of people through side streets near the scene of the earlier stand-off.

A witness reported that large numbers of police reinforcements had been brought in and were being kept on standby a few blocks away. There was no sign of any disturbances in other parts of the city.