Video | Tunisia imposes night-time curfew in bid to quell protests

The curfew attempts to put a lid on violent protests in several districts of the capital, part of on-going unrest that began late last year. The protests were sparked by discontent about spiralling food an fuel prices, high levels of unemployment, and rampant government corruption.

While according to official sources, casualties tally at 23, human rights and trade union activists have said they believe the true figure to stand at least 50.

Earlier on Wednesday, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali dismissed his interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem in an attempt to stem the unrest. Belhaj Kacem was previously in charge of the police force, which many slammed as having used excessive force in controlling the unrest - with riot police firing tear gas at demonstrators.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Communications Minister Samir Laabidi denied that police had killed any of the protesters, claiming these occurred "during attacks and acts of vandalism against public buildings, police stations or schools".

But the BBC is reporting that the president's efforts appear not to have worked as at least two people were reported to have been shot dead by police in the southern city of Douz on Wednesday. One man was also reported to have been killed during clashes in Thala.

The interior ministry said the nightly Tunis curfew would begin on Wednesday at 2000 local time (1900 GMT) and end each day at 0600, justifying the curfew by saying the action was being taken because of "disturbances, pillaging and attacks against people and property which have occurred in some districts of the city".

During the news conference address, Laabidi accused "religious extremist movements and extremist movements from the left" of fomenting the unrest, statements that come in the work of the arrest of the leader of the banned Tunisian Workers' Communist Party (POCT) - a prominent critic of the president, according to family and rights groups.

Just days ago, Hamma Hammami said the unrest could bring about the government's collapse, and called for Ben Ali to stand down.