Tunisia Latest: At Least 9 Dead in Saturday Clashes

1945 GMT: Radio Kalima is claiming more than 50 people died on Saturday night and Sunday morning: 16 in Thala, 22 in the Kasserine region, 2 in Meknassi, 1 in Feriana, and 8 in Reguab.

The site claims special forces and militia used live ammunition and also fired on funeral processions and burial ceremonies.

1525 GMT: A two-minute video of the dead and wounded, lying in hospital, from the Thala clash is racing across the Internet. (Warning: graphic images)

Reuters says Tunisian authorities are now admitting eight were killed in Tala and the Kasserine region last night.

The Regional Federation of Labor, Kasserine, has published the names of 19 victims.

1320 GMT: Al Jazeera now reports at least 20 people have been killed in clashes with police.

The toll at Thala remains at six dead and six wounded; however, the number killed in the Kasserine region, according to sources, has risen from three to 14.

The government has only admitted to two killed in Tala: "The police opened fire in legitimate self-defence and this led to two dead and eight wounded, as well as several wounded among police, three of them seriously."

1300 GMT: Opposition leader and activist Moncef Marzouki has posted a video message, on Facebook, to senior officials in army. He said that they carried the burden for recent violence and they have a responsibility to protect the people, not the regime.

Marzouki, asking the military not to carry out President Ben Ali's orders, said, "History will judge you."

1045 GMT: Elements in Tunisia's main trade union, the UGTT --- normally regarded as supportive of the government --- appear to have swung behind the protests. Surrounded by riot police, several hundred unionists observed a minute's silence in Tunis yesterday.

The UGTT's deputy general secretary, Abid Brigui, said, "We support the demands of the people in Sidi Bouzid and interior regions....The UGTT cannot but be with this region, behind those in need and demanding jobs. It is against nature to condemn this movement, it is not normal to respond with bullets."

0940 GMT: There was "a small explosion" just before 0500 GMT at the Tunisian Consulate in Pantin, a suburb northeast of Paris. It caused "minimal damage" to the steel front of the building.

0900 GMT: At least nine people are now reported killed in clashes with police.

Six people were killed in the city of Thala, 200km southwest of Tunis, by gunfire from security forces.

-Three people were killed nearby in the Kasserine region.

Six critically injured protestors from the Tala incident have been moved to Kasserine.

On Saturday, troops were deployed in the area for the first time.

0800 GMTWitnesses report that several people were killed on Saturday night in Thala in western Tunisia, as protests and clashes with police continue. 

Demonstrators set fire to a government builiding. Police responded with water cannons and tear gas before opening fire on the crowd. 

Witnesses and activists claim at least five deaths: Marwane Jamli, Mohamed Oumari, Ahmed Boulabi, Nouri Boulabi, and Abdelkader Boulabi.