(Bloomberg) -- Protesters set fire to a security forces building in central Tunisia, as a dispute over the reopening of a landfill morphed into some of the biggest street demonstrations to hit the North African nation since a July power grab by its president.
The torching of the building in Agareb, in Sfax province, came a day after an outbreak of unrest in the area. Police had fired tear gas to dispel protesters enraged by the authorities' decision to reopen a site intended for household garbage. One person died during the demonstrations, though officials are still investigating the circumstances of his death.
Tunisia is at a political crossroads months after President Kais Saied fired his prime minister and suspended parliament -- moves he said were necessary to save the Arab Spring's birthplace from partisan corruption.
His seizure of power -- dubbed a coup by Saied's detractors -- has threatened to further deepen Tunisia's worst economic crisis since the 2011 uprising that led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Tunisia Reaches Out to Gulf Nations as Economic Woes Deepen
Prior to the burning of the building, security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators, Fakher Abdel-Qader, a civil society activist in the province, said by phone. Interior Ministry officials couldn't be reached for comment.
Security forces then withdrew from the area, Abdel-Qader said.
Saied, who recently named a new government but has yet to clearly define a path forward for the country, has said the environmental situation in Sfax is a result of years of neglect by the government. At the same time, he suggested the protests may also have been stoked by those seeking to disrupt the nation's new course.
The landfill had been closed by court order in 2019 after it reached maximum capacity, according to FTDES, the nation's main human-rights advocacy group.
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