I’ve said this umpteen times but it’s worth repeating, Tunisia was the most secular Arab country prior to the Arab Spring.

(Reuters) — Police in a Tunisian town used tear gas on Thursday to break up a crowd of about 200 hardline Islamists, armed with sticks, swords and petrol bombs, who set fire to a police station, witnesses told Reuters.

“The security forces are chasing about 200 Salafists armed with swords and sticks after an exchange of petrol bombs and tear gas,” resident Omar Inoubli told Reuters by telephone from Jandouba, about 160 km (99 miles) west of the capital.

“These groups set fire to a police station …. (They) are broadcasting recordings through the loudspeakers of mosques calling for jihad (holy war).”

Residents said the clashes broke out when police arrested a Salafist but tensions had been brewing between authorities and the conservative Islamists who have become more active since last year’s revolution.

“The situation has become serious in the city, which has been living in a state of terror and fear because of Salafist groups seeking to impose a strict way of life,” another witness, a woman who did not want to be named, told Reuters.

One resident said the Salafis had threatened people drinking alcohol and slapped women wearing trousers or skirts.