Anti-austerity protests rock Tunisia for fourth day in a row

Tunisian police have arrested over 325 people after four nights of anti-austerity protests, according to the Interior Ministry spokesman, Khelifa Chibani .

According to state news agency TAP on Thursday,at least one person has died since Sunday, when protests against an unpopular new Finance Act, which saw price hikes and VAT increases imposed from January 1, first broke out in the capital, Tunis, and across the country.

Mr. Chibani told TAP that acts of vandalism and looting had fallen significantly on Wednesday night after security forces were deployed across the country.

“Police carried out raids to “arrest troublemakers and rioters involved in looting and stealing.” He said.

“21 security officers were injured and a dozen police vehicles damaged during the unrest.” Mr. Chaibani added.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed visited one of the affected areas, where he criticized the main opposition party backing the protests — the Popular Front — and said criminal networks were exploiting the unrest, according to the CNN.

“The rioters, who take advantage of the tense situation to loot and ransack by using children, serve the networks of corruption and smuggling by pressuring the government to release them’, PM Chehad said, according to TAP.

He went on say they were linked to “irresponsible political parties, including the Popular Front.”

The Popular Front has called for peaceful protests to overturn the Finance Act, according to reports from Tunisia.