Tunisian police fired tear gas overnight to disperse protesters demanding the release of suspected members of an Al-Qaeda-linked group arrested in the restive Sidi Bouzid region, the government said Friday. Eight people were detained in a "sweeping security operation" in the central province, targeting radical Islamists belonging to the banned Ansar al-Sharia group and wanted by the authorities, the interior ministry said Thursday. Relatives of those arrested protested overnight in front of a police post in Sidi Bouzid demanding their release, ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told AFP. The security forces then fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who numbered a few dozen.