"The town is in turmoil, but it is controllable," provincial governor Yahia Fehim told Reuters news agency.

Berbers in Algeria's north-east rioted in 2001, complaining of discrimination by the government.

At least 100 people died and thousands were hurt in a series of clashes between security forces and Berber youth, which erupted after the death in police custody of a Berber schoolboy.

Ethnic Berbers claim to pre-date the Arabs, who now account for the majority in Algeria, and are concentrated in two provinces of the north-eastern Kabylie region.

According to varying estimates, they account for between a third and a fifth of Algeria's population of 30 million, and they have campaigned for greater rights since the country won independence from France in 1962.