Zerhouni: “I’m sorry for the number of injuries among the security men”

The Algerian Minister of Interior, Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni, said that the security services referred 15 people to justice on charges of being involved in the events of Diar Echems in Algiers, including five persons with previous judicial lawsuits, and they have been put in detention, while the rest of the involved benefited from provisional release, including minors, to be brought before justice. 

• Zerhouni did not give figures on the number of injuries among the security services confirming, in a statement to the press; after his visit to a policeman in the hospital of the national security he said that he is sorry for the number of the injuries among the security services.
• previusly, 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.