Tunisian police disperse protestors with warning shots

Added by Gary Dunn on July 26, 2012

Tunisian police launched warning shots along with tear gas on Thursday in order to scatter protesters who attacked provincial government headquarters in the town of Sidi Bouzid, where the country’s revolution started.

A number of people, upset over their living conditions, converged on the building in Sidi Bouzid and set fire to a tire, which they tossed into the building.

Police reacted with warning shots and tear gas, as rioters yelled “Ben Ali’s police are back,” in reference to a dictator that was driven from office as a result of popular rebellion.

The rebellion against Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ignited the Arab Spring – a wave of political strife around North Africa and the Middle East. The uprising was triggered when Mohamed Bouazizi , a street vendor, in Sidi Bouzid immolated himself in protest over his own precarious livelihood.