Protesters clash with security forces in the Ettadhamen suburb of Tunis. AFP

Gulf Today Report

Stone-throwing Tunisian youths clashed with security forces for the third day on Sunday evening.

According to the Tunisian News Agency, security forces have responded to attempts to loot commercial centers in Manouba Governorate.

Tunisian media said on Sunday that units of the Tunisian army have been deployed in front of institutions and commercial centres in Sousse to stop youths looting shops.

At nightfall, young people gathered on the roofs of houses and streets to lob stones and fireworks at police and National Guard officers.

The Tunisian Ministry of the Interior announced that it had arrested more than 240 people, most of them teenagers, following violent confrontations with the police and the outbreak of riots in several Tunisian cities.

On Sunday, protests erupted in at least three cities. No clear demands were made during the violent protests.

"These aren't protests, it's young people who are coming from nearby neighbourhoods to rob and entertain themselves," said 26-year-old resident Oussama.

"A protest would be during the day, faces visible."

Abdelmoneim, a waiter at a nearby cafe, said those in the street were "bored adolescents", but blamed the violence on the country's post-revolution political class.

"These delinquents are the result of their failure," the 28-year-old said.