Tunis — Groups of citizens from the town of Metlaoui, whose number is estimated at over one thousand persons, resumed on Friday morning, "acts of violence, stone and Molotov cocktails throwing and shotguns' firing," following the spread on Thursday, of a false communiqué on an alleged recruitment of workers by the Gafsa Phosphates Company (CPG) in the mines of Metlaoui.

This false communiqué points to a distribution of jobs between various "arouchs," despite "denial by authorities and their assurance that the recruitment would take place in compliance with the law."

According to a communiqué from the Interior Ministry, these incidents resulted in two deaths (a girl and a boy) by fire from shotguns and twenty injuries.Besides, a National Army officer was injured by a shotgun. An attempt to set fire to a military tank by a Molotov cocktail was also recorded.

The communiqué says that the police and National Guard officers, in collaboration with the National Army, dispersed the perpetrators of these acts of violence by using tear gas. An investigation has also been initiated to clarify the circumstances of these incidents and arrest persons involved in these criminal acts.

The Interior Ministry calls on the inhabitants of Metlaoui to show a spirit of citizenship and contribute to calming the situation and "avoiding violence and destruction," emphasising that "the law will be strictly enforced in any involvement in these incidents."