Tunisian police fired tear gas Tuesday to break up a two-day protest by residents of a desert region where oasis irrigation was halted, the official TAP agency reported.

The demonstrators had blocked the main road in the southern region of Tozeur on Monday, demanding an urgent solution to the fact that water supplying the local oases' irrigation systems had dried up.

Two security officers were wounded in clashes between police and protesters and 16 demonstrators were arrested over two days, the agency said.