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Seven killed in Western Sahara clashes

A resident in Dakhla, 1,800 km (1,100 miles) south of Rabat and the site of the match, told Reuters clashes between one group of residents of Sahrawi origin and another of Moroccan origin continued until early on Tuesday.

Another resident said the clashes spread through the Atlantic coast town despite police efforts to disperse crowds with teargas, and that troops had been deployed in two neighbourhoods to restore order.

"We have been living in fear since Sunday... the population, whether it is Sahrawi or Moroccan, is caught in the middle. We can't go out," the first resident, who asked to be identified as Hassan, said by telephone from Dakhla.

"The anti-riot police fired teargas canisters yesterday to end the clashes between the two sides, but this did not prevent some of them from reaching other parts of the city and attacking anyone who looked like their enemy," Aniba said.

"People have had their cars and shops burned. I've seen six charred cars," he added.

Moroccan officials said the clashes broke out when supporters leaving the stadium started throwing stones at the opposing team's fans.

"When it degenerated into clashes between Sahrawis and Moroccans, the police did not intervene... there is a protest now in the city by residents who demand that security be restored," said the resident.

The Polisario Front waged a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces until the United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991. Since then, several rounds of talks have failed to produce a deal on Western Sahara's status.

"The situation in Dakhla has remained very tense since then... the football match was the straw that broke the camel's back," said a local official on condition of anonymity.

MAP said three of the victims were killed when they were run over by "ex-convicts aboard a four-wheel-drive vehicle".

Moroccan Communication Minister Khalid Naciri likened the violence to "hooliganism that can happen anywhere around the world" but did not dismiss possibl