UPDATE: Gunfight at Tunisian presidential palace

January 16, 2011 at 12:27 p.m. | Updated January 16, 2011 at 1:11 p.m.

by The Associated Press

Soldiers take position as gunfire echoes through the capital in the center of Tunis, Sunday, Jan. 16. 2011. Tunisia sped toward a new future after its iron-fisted leader fled, with an interim president sworn in and ordering the country's first multiparty government to be formed.
Soldiers take position as gunfire echoes through the capital in the center of Tunis, Sunday, Jan. 16. 2011. Tunisia sped toward a new future after its iron-fisted leader fled, with an interim president sworn in and ordering the country's first multiparty government to be formed.

A gunbattle is under way around the presidential palace in Tunisia as the army and police struggle to restore calm in the country.

INTERACTIVE

http://www.arkansas…" onclick="window.open(this.href,'popup','height=650,width=750,scrollbars,resizable'); return false;">Unrest in Tunisia

Two residents say presidential guards loyal to deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali are involved in Sunday’s shootout in Carthage on the Mediterranean shore, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of the capital, Tunis.

The shooting broke out in the afternoon and is continuing, with sporadic but heavy gunfire. Carthage residents have barricaded themselves inside their homes amid the shooting.

Tunisian authorities have arrested the top presidential security chief and are trying to stop gunfights that erupted across the capital.

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