A third night of unrest has shaken Tunisia where authorities said Thursday more than 600 people have been arrested this week as anger at austerity measures boils over on the streets. Tunisia is considered a rare success story of the Arab Spring uprisings that began in the North African country in 2011 and spread across the region, toppling autocrats.

But the authorities have failed to resolve the issues of poverty and unemployment. Police detained 328 people on Wednesday for theft, looting, arson and blocking roads, the interior ministry said, after arresting more than 280 people over the previous two days.

The latest unrest overnight saw a provincial police station torched, Molotov cocktails hurled at police and tear gas fired, but ministry spokesman Khalifa Chibani said the "violence" was less intense than in previous days. Twenty-one members of the security forces were injured, according to Chibani, who said no civilians were hurt.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018