Berber-Arab Violence Wounds 10 in Algeria

Clashes between Berbers and Arabs in the southern Algerian town of Ghardaia wounded 10 people Saturday, including two gendarmes, national news agency APS reported.

The fighting erupted when Mozabite (Berbers) youth tried to prevent  a group of Arabs, or Chaamba, from going to a mosque located in a majority Mozabite neighborhood, the agency said.

Some young people also threw  Molotov cocktails and hurled rocks at police who tried to break up the fighting, wounding the two gendarmes.

Police eventually used tear gas against the stone throwers.

The Mozabite and Chaamba communities have lived together for centuries, but tensions have risen sharply since vandals destroyed a historic Berber shrine in December 2013.

Since then there have been off-and-on confrontations that have killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 400.

The two sides have often clashed over property and land ownership.

Ghardaia is located in the M'Zab valley on the edge of the Sahara desert, some 600 kilometres (370 miles) south of Algiers. It is a UNESCO world heritage site renowned for its traditional white-washed houses and bustling market, selling jewelery, carpets and leather.