Tunisia Emergency Extended by One Month

Tunisia's state of emergency has been extended by just one month, rather than the usual three, due to an improvement in the country's security situation, the president's office announced on Tuesday.

It is the sixth time the state of emergency has been extended since it came into force on January 14, 2011, when a mass uprising prompted veteran strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country.

"The state of emergency will be extended by one month, to the end of August," a statement said, adding that the decision followed a "marked improvement" in the security situation in Tunisia.

The announcement comes just days after violent demonstrations in the central town of Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of Tunisia's revolution.

Protesters angry over their living conditions attacked the provincial government headquarters with rocks and police fired tear gas to disperse them.

Some demonstrators also broke down the door and sacked the local offices of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda.

Separately, a curfew was imposed in Tunis and elsewhere for three days in June after an attack on an art exhibition, which included a painting of a naked woman with bearded men standing behind her, that led to riots.