Police clashed with Berber protesters in Algeria's rebellious Kabylie region for a third day Saturday, leaving some people injured, the official APS news agency said.
The main confrontations occurred in Akbou outside Bejaia, around 260 kilometers east of the capital city of Algiers, where protesters damaged an energy company, a court and a tax office building.
Demonstrators and police also clashed in the village of El Kseur outside Bejaia, where 15 people were hurt in riots Friday, however APS did not say if anyone had been injured.
Violent protests on Thursday and Friday in the region injured 43 people, 15 of them police, according to APS, which did not say how many had been injured in the latest riots.
Kabylie has been in sporadic revolt against the central government since last year, demanding further recognition of the Berber language and culture. Berbers make up about one fifth of Algeria's 31 million population.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said Tuesday the Berber language would become the country's second official language after Berber leaders threatened to boycott May parliamentary elections.
The Algerian government has put the death toll in riots last April in Kabylie at sixty, with 2,000 injured, while Berber community groups say 107 people were killed and 6,000 injured in the deadly clashes with paramilitary police. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
