Ethnic violence in Algeria leaves at least 18 dead

Clashes between Arab and Berber youth in Algeria have left at least 18 people dead.

The fighting took place in the ethnically mixed town of Ghardaia, in central Algeria, with homes and shops burnt down according to Algerian state news.

The agency, citing hospital and local officials, said dozens of other people were hurt in Tuesday's violence between Chaamba Arabs and Mozabite Berbers in the M'zab region on the edge of the Sahara desert.

Reuters said that community leaders have appealed for calm while Algeria's Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui visited the city on Wednesday morning.

Ghardaia has scene clashes between Arab and Berber youth in the past, due to competition over scarce jobs, land and housing, Reuters said.

The communities are also religiously divided with the majority of Arabs being Sunni Muslims and the Berber's Ibadi Muslims.

Tensions first arose in the 1960s when Arab Bedouin tribes were encouraged to settle in Berber-majority areas such as Ghardaia, and riots between the two communities have been common place ever since.

In February, rivalry between the two communities led to rioting as gangs of Arab and Berber high school children fought with knives, stones and iron bars, despite a heavy police presence in the city.