Probe shows Tunisian President Zeine El Abidine Ben Ali ordered air strikes on city involved in uprising

Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ordered air strikes on a city involved in an uprising that led to his toppling in January, according to an investigator quoted by the media on Wednesday.

Ben Ali ordered strikes on the Ezzouhour area of the western city of Kasserine days before he quit on January 14 after weeks of protests, Taoufik Bouderbala, the head of a commission probing abuses during the revolt said in various reports.

The "intention was clearly to break the region and bring its people to their knees through collective and premeditated murder," Bouderbala was quoted as saying.

The order came days before Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia, ending 23 years in power, and was never carried out. The army had reportedly refused some orders from Ben Ali to crack down on protesters.

Bouderbala said 23 people were killed in the city. "The inquiry has come to the conclusion that weapons were used with the intention of killing ... the majority of the wounds were at the level of the head and the heart," Bouderbala said. He said the gunmen were elite forces from the public order brigades but there were "difficulties" in identifying them.