About 20 people were injured and 18 houses set on fire in a new wave of ethnic violence in Algeria over the weekend, media reported Sunday.
According to a Xinhua report, 15 people were arrested following the clashes, which hit the province of Ghardaia, 600 km south east of the Algerian capital of Algiers.
After nearly two months of calm, fighting between the Chaamba community, which is of Arab origin, and the Mozabite Berbers of the Muslim Ibadi sect, erupted again, even as community elders warned that the region cannot withstand additional violence. They also urged the government to intervene.
Aouatti Salim, a member of elder committee of the El Hofra neighbourhood in Ghardaia, told Xinhua that 10 houses were vandalised and set ablaze Friday. There were instances of violence in other neighbourhoods of Ghardaia Saturday and Sunday.
Eyewitnesses said a hundred masked men set fire to 18 houses and 14 vehicles, while anti riot troops found it hard to deal with the situation, due to narrow streets and alleys in the area.
Aouatti urged the "government to intervene as soon as possible to contain the violence and save the region from chaos".
Since December 2013, the province of Ghardaia has been hit by a series of violent ethnic clashes between the two communities. So far, 15 have been killed in these clashes.
