(TAP)- Tensions have been mounting since Sunday morning in the town of Kamour in Tataouine (southern Tunisia), after the intervention of the police Saturday night to remove the tents at the site of the sit-in, which has been observed for more than two months.

Protesters were arrested, including sit-in spokesman Tarek Haddad, who has been on a wild hunger strike since June 18.

Security forces used "excessive force" to disperse the protesters and end the sit-in, according to a member of the sit-in coordinating committee.

"Some protesters were injured during the operation," he told TAP.

The young protesters denounced the absence of a cabinet meeting on the region, one week after the organisation of a day of anger in front of the headquarters of the regional labour union in Tataouine.

The Regional Labour Union in Tataouine had said Saturday afternoon in a statement that the government "has lost all credibility because of its broken promises and its denial of the Kamour agreement concluded between the Prime Minister and the UGTT secretary general, regarding the holding of a cabinet meeting last week in the city of Tataouine. "It is this disengagement that led the demonstrators to resort to escalation."

The Tataouine Regional Labour Union blames the government "for what will happen and for the state of the hunger strikers," warning the government not to renege on its commitment not to prosecute the demonstrators," and called on human rights activists and civil society organisations to support "the demands of the region.