Riots broke out in the two main cities of Kabylie, the ethnic Berber region in northeastern Algeria, in the wake of a massive anti-government demonstration in Algiers, press reports said Saturday.
The riots late Thursday and Friday occurred in Bejaia and the Kabylie capital Tizi Ouzou, the reports said, adding that the unrest caused heavy property damage.
In Bejaia, tensions were high over the death of a motorcyclist who was hit by an unmarked police car, the daily La Nouvelle Republique reported.
Police announced an investigation into what they described as an accident.
In Tizi Ouzou, one person was seriously injured, the report said.
Clashes between youths and security forces also broke out Friday in Azazga and Beni Douala, two towns near Tizi Ouzou, the daily El Watan reported.
In Algiers on Thursday, in the biggest demonstration in the north African country since independence from France in 1962, four people, including two journalists, were killed in accidents and at least 365 were injured.
The demonstrators hurled stones at police, ransacked and torched public buildings and smashed shop windows in several parts of the city in a protest that drew hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of the capital.
The protesters shouted slogans accusing the government of abuse of power and using strong-arm tactics in Kabylie, where dozens were killed in a police crackdown on riots in April and May, prompting repeated calls for the paramilitary police to leave the region -- ALGIERS (AFP)
