At least three were reported dead Friday after a group of Islamist demonstrators stormed the US embassy in Tunis Friday, setting cars alight and hoisting a black jihadist flag in place of the US flag, witnesses and reports said, DPA reported.
Thick black smoke from burning cars billowed over the embassy, where soldiers had been sent in to bolster security forces who fired several rounds of tear gas to try to quell the riot, a dpa reporter at the scene said.
The Health Ministry, cited by the national news agency TAP, said three died in the violence, while 28 were injured.
Witnesses said a group of protesters broke away from the crowd of several hundred demonstrators and managed to briefly enter the compound.
A group of demonstrators also reportedly set fire to the American school, which is close to the embassy.
Business News, a francophone Tunisian news site, quoted witnesses as saying demonstrators had looted and torched the school.
By late afternoon, the embassy appeared to have been secured again, but hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators continued to clash with security forces.
Three police officers were seen by dpa being treated for injuries. There was also at least one demonstrator with head injuries.
Radio Mosaique reported that a demonstrator had been hit by a bullet in the leg.
A security forces helicopter overflew the area, which is situated close to Tunis-Carthage International Airport.
Large crowds of demonstrators had been seen earlier marching north towards the embassy along the motorway.