ALGIERS: Protesters thronged the heart of Algeria's capital on Friday despite a heavy police presence, vowing to push their demands for transition after the ouster of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Under a scorching sun, massive crowds marched through the streets of Algiers all afternoon in the 19th consecutive week of mass protests against the North African country's regime.
Some 100 police vans — many more than normal — were deployed in Algiers from early morning, along with water canon and bulldozers.
Ahmed, a 54-year-old protester, said he had never seen such a heavy police presence.
"They want to scare us, but they're wrong — fear is behind us," he told AFP.
The vehicles remained in place throughout the rally.
Police particularly targeted protesters carrying the Berber flag, after army chief and key power broker Ahmed Gaid Salah banned all flags other than the national colours at rallies.
Algeria's Berber minority has long suffered marginalisation.
After arresting one man carrying the flag, police fired tear gas to cover their retreat, provoking anger among the protesters, who were quickly calmed by volunteers determined to ensure demonstrations remain peaceful.
The rally in Algiers — and some 31 of the country's 48 regions — dispersed without major incidents in the late afternoon, the official APS news agency said.
Demonstrations were planned for Friday night in six sub-Saharan regions of Algeria.
Mass protests sparked by ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's intention to stand for a fifth term led to his resignation on April 2.
But the demonstrations have carried on, with demonstrators demanding the departure of regime insiders and the establishment of independent institutions.
The country's constitutional council was forced to cancel polls set for next week to select Bouteflika's successor, after the only two candidates — both little known — were rejected.
Protesters have demanded the establishment of transitional bodies, free of Bouteflika-era officials, to push through reforms ahead of presidential elections.
Army chief Gaid Salah, who has resisted such moves, has also faced persistent calls to resign.
Former prime ministers Abdelmalek Sellal and Ahmed Ouyahia are among several high profile figures detained under a probe into corruption under Bouteflika's rule.
But some in the opposition say such probes should be the responsibility of a future government, fearing that regime factions could use them to settle scores against each other.
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Algerians brave heavy police presence to demand transition
Algerians brave heavy police presence to demand transition
- Some 100 police vans — many more than normal — were deployed in Algiers from early morning
Village in southern Lebanon buries a child and father killed in Israeli drone strike
- Hassan Jaber, a police officer, and his 3-year-old son, Ali, were on foot when the strike hit a passing car in Yanouh on Monday
- The car’s driver, Ahmad Salami, was also killed. The Israeli military said Salami was an artillery official with Hezbollah
YANOUH: Mourners in southern Lebanon on Tuesday buried a father and his young son killed in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a Hezbollah member.
Hassan Jaber, a police officer, and his child, Ali, were on foot when the strike on Monday hit a passing car in the center of their town, Yanouh, relatives said. Lebanon’s health ministry said the boy was 3 years old. Both were killed at the scene along with the car driver, Ahmad Salami, who the Israeli military said in a statement was an artillery official with the Lebanese militant group.
It said it was aware of a “claim that uninvolved civilians were killed” and that the case is under review, adding it “makes every effort to reduce the likelihood of harm” to civilians.
Salami, also from Yanouh, was buried in the village Tuesday along with the father and son.
“There are always people here, it’s a crowded area,” with coffee shops and corner stores, a Shiite religious gathering hall, the municipality building and a civil defense center, a cousin of the boy’s father, also named Hassan Jaber, told The Associated Press.
When the boy and his father were struck, he said, they were going to a bakery making Lebanese breakfast flatbread known as manakish to see how it was made. They were standing only about 5 meters (5.5 yards) from the car when it was struck, the cousin said.
“It is not new for the Israeli enemy to carry out such actions,” he said. “There was a car they wanted to hit and they struck it in the middle of this crowded place.”
Jaber said the little boy, Ali, had not yet entered school but “showed signs of unusual intelligence.”
“What did this innocent child do wrong, this angel?” asked Ghazaleh Haider, the wife of the boy’s uncle. “Was he a fighter or a jihadi?”
Attendees at the funeral carried photos of Ali, a striking child with large green eyes and blond hair. Some also carried flags of Hezbollah or Amal, a Shiite party that is allied with but also sometimes a rival of Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, of which the child’s father was a member, said in a statement that the 37-year-old father of three had joined in 2013 and reached the rank of first sergeant.
The strike came as Israel has stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon.
The night before the strike in Yanouh, Israeli forces launched a rare ground raid in the Lebanese village of Hebbarieh, several kilometers (miles) from the border, in which they seized a local official with the Sunni Islamist group Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group in English. The group is allied with Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The low-level conflict between Lebanon and Israel escalated into full-scale war in September 2024, later reined in but not fully stopped by a US-brokered ceasefire two months later.
Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild and has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon that it says target Hezbollah militants and facilities.
Israeli forces also continue to occupy five hilltop points on the Lebanese side of the border. Hezbollah has claimed one strike against Israel since the ceasefire.
Hassan Jaber, a police officer, and his child, Ali, were on foot when the strike on Monday hit a passing car in the center of their town, Yanouh, relatives said. Lebanon’s health ministry said the boy was 3 years old. Both were killed at the scene along with the car driver, Ahmad Salami, who the Israeli military said in a statement was an artillery official with the Lebanese militant group.
It said it was aware of a “claim that uninvolved civilians were killed” and that the case is under review, adding it “makes every effort to reduce the likelihood of harm” to civilians.
Salami, also from Yanouh, was buried in the village Tuesday along with the father and son.
“There are always people here, it’s a crowded area,” with coffee shops and corner stores, a Shiite religious gathering hall, the municipality building and a civil defense center, a cousin of the boy’s father, also named Hassan Jaber, told The Associated Press.
When the boy and his father were struck, he said, they were going to a bakery making Lebanese breakfast flatbread known as manakish to see how it was made. They were standing only about 5 meters (5.5 yards) from the car when it was struck, the cousin said.
“It is not new for the Israeli enemy to carry out such actions,” he said. “There was a car they wanted to hit and they struck it in the middle of this crowded place.”
Jaber said the little boy, Ali, had not yet entered school but “showed signs of unusual intelligence.”
“What did this innocent child do wrong, this angel?” asked Ghazaleh Haider, the wife of the boy’s uncle. “Was he a fighter or a jihadi?”
Attendees at the funeral carried photos of Ali, a striking child with large green eyes and blond hair. Some also carried flags of Hezbollah or Amal, a Shiite party that is allied with but also sometimes a rival of Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, of which the child’s father was a member, said in a statement that the 37-year-old father of three had joined in 2013 and reached the rank of first sergeant.
The strike came as Israel has stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon.
The night before the strike in Yanouh, Israeli forces launched a rare ground raid in the Lebanese village of Hebbarieh, several kilometers (miles) from the border, in which they seized a local official with the Sunni Islamist group Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group in English. The group is allied with Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The low-level conflict between Lebanon and Israel escalated into full-scale war in September 2024, later reined in but not fully stopped by a US-brokered ceasefire two months later.
Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild and has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon that it says target Hezbollah militants and facilities.
Israeli forces also continue to occupy five hilltop points on the Lebanese side of the border. Hezbollah has claimed one strike against Israel since the ceasefire.
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