Clashes over slums break out in Algiers

Youths from slum in Algiers clash with police in protest against poor housing conditions.

• Youths from a slum in Algeria’s capital clashed Tuesday with police in a protest against their housing conditions, leaving at least 11 policemen injured.
• Similar incidents had occurred on Monday as residents of the Diar Echems working-class district of Algiers protested against their squalid housing and demanded new homes.
• At around 3:30 pm (1430 GMT), dozens of youths were harassing riot police by throwing stones and other projectiles at them from an area that overlooks the road, which was closed to all traffic.
• At least 11 police officers were wounded, according to a journalist at the scene. The police practically sealed off the area, keeping the youths at a distance. Some of the youths wore balaclavas to hide their faces.
• The police then brought in anti-riot vehicles and beefed up their presence to pre-empt further clashes and attacks on banks and shops near the area.
• Residents of the district sometimes live 10 to a single room or in shacks, according to accounts in the Algerian press, and they have begun to protest at these conditions and press for better housing.