TUNIS (Reuters) – A soccer fan wielding a chainsaw was arrested during riots at a CAF Champions League match in Tunis, a source at the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The return leg of the quarter-final between Tunisia’s Esperance and Algeria’s JS Kabylie at the Rades Stadium on Saturday was interrupted by violence, which caused a 40-minute delay to the second half.
Esperance fans clashed with security forces and lit fireworks on the terraces. Firefighters had to be called out to extinguish several small fires in front of the stands.
Local reports said that a warehouse at the stadium was looted and some equipment, including a chainsaw, was stolen.
“We can confirm the arrest of a fan holding the chainsaw,” the ministry source, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
Some 66 people were arrested, including 12 minors, a court spokesman told Diwan FM radio station.
Algerian fans also complained that they had been subjected to unjustified attacks by security forces.
Esperance progressed to the semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win where they will face Al-Ahly of Egypt.
(Reporting by Latifa Guesmi, Writing by Shady Amir, Editing by Nick Macfie)
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