ALGIERS: Weeks of heightened tensions between rival communities in the flash point oasis town of Ghardaia in southern Algeria have erupted into violence, leaving one person dead and several injured, officials said Monday.

Schools and shops were shut after a group of youths went on the rampage on Sunday, attacking five different neighborhoods and after a 39-year-old man was stabbed in the chest at his home.

Another 10 people were wounded in the desert town 600 km south of Algiers, among them three policemen, interior Minister Tayeb Belaiz said, cited by official Algerian media.

“The clashes continued until 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) this morning. The police managed to restore calm,” Ahmed Baba Aissa, spokesman for the Ghardaia coordination committee, told AFP.

His association was created a month ago to try and defuse ongoing tensions between the Chaamba community of Arab origin and the Mozabites, a Berber minority group which adheres to the Ibadi faith, an offshoot of Shiitism.

“Until Sunday, a group of youths was spreading fear by attacking different neighborhoods, one after the other. Then yesterday (Sunday), five neighborhoods were attacked simultaneously,” Baba Aissa said.

One Mozabite, Belhadj Kebaili, 29, was stabbed to death in his home and numerous others were wounded, he added.