More than 20,000 students are marching on the official residence of Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, according to press reports from the North African nation.
According to the TSA Algerie website, dozens of students have been injured in clashes with local security forces, in what is by far the largest protest yet seen in the country.
The website, which claims to have a journalist embedded in the protest, said that the march had left Place de La Grande Poste in Algiers at 11am local time, with students issuing calls for democracy.
By 12.30pm, the march neared El Mouradia, Bouteflika’s presidential palace, where police forces blocked access to the site.
In comparison to near neighbours Tunisia and Libya, Algeria has been relatively unaffected by national uprisings.
Bouteflika, who won his third term as president of Algeria in 2009 with 90 percent of the vote, has lifted a 19-year-old state of emergency in response to rising unease in the country.
The government has also promised social handouts, including packages of land and loans to assist with farming.
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