1 killed, 8 hurt in protests in central Tunisia

Violent clashes erupted Friday between protesters and police in central Tunisia, leaving one person dead and at least eight injured, government and labor union officials said.

Some protesters threw Molotov cocktails and police opened fire as months of intermittent protests over unemployment and living conditions in the Gafsa mining region took a violent turn.

A 25-year-old protester was killed in the town of Redeyef and 10 people were injured, said local labor union leader Messaoud Romdhani. Government officials confirmed that one person had died, but counted five protesters and three police officers injured.