Tunisia Closes Down Border Crossing With Algeria

Tunisian authorities closed, during the evening of Monday May 1st, the border crossing of Hzoua, which is adjacent to the Algerian crossing point of Taleb Arbi in the Oued Souf area, against the backdrop of the riots that broke out in the afore-mentioned Tunisian town to demand employment and local development…

Dozens of vehicles, whose owners were planning to head for Tunisia on Monday evening found the Tunisian border crossing under closed siege, and returned home following a decision by the Tunisian authorities, fearing that the violence and riots in the town might spread to the border crossing.
The rioters closed the road linking the border crossing with the rest of the city with tires and stones, and set fire to rubber wheels, and the violent protests in Hzoua extended to the southern part of Tunisia, to demand employment and development and fair distribution of wealth.
The demonstrators also prevented the passage of the lorries loaded with special hardware destined to petroleum companies operating in the provinces of Ouargla, and Illizi by the fact that the majority of foreign companies operating in the oil and gas production areas in the country, bring equipment used by petroleum companies, through the Taleb Arbi border crossing in Oued Souf as they are the closest to the oil and gas fields.
“Echorouk” learned that dozens of Algerians were compelled to return to the homeland through the Algerian Taleb Arbi border crossing in Oued Souf area after finding  themselves trapped there for several hours, thus forcing them to re-enter the national territory through the Betitah border crossing in the municipality of Bir al-Atar in the eastern province of Tébessa.
Tunisia’s border crossing was only re-opened early in the morning after calm returned to the Tunisian town of Hzoua.