ALGIERS- Weeks of violence between two rival communities have swept Algeria’s desert city of Ghardaia, inflamed by the destruction of a historic Berber shrine, with analysts warning of sectarian conflict engulfing the fragile region.

For more than a month, the city of 90,000 inhabitants has witnessed clashes between the Chaamba community of Arab origin and the majority Mozabites, indigenous Berbers belonging to the Ibadi Muslim sect.

Three people were killed in the violence, which both sides accused the other of starting.

Houses were looted and burned, shops and schools closed and thousands of police deployed as the authorities scrambled to contain the unrest.

“The fear is that if Ghardaia is destabilized, the entire region will find itself in a vulnerable situation,” Algerian political analyst Rachid Tlemcani said.

The capital of Ghardaia province is thought to have been inhabited by the Mozabites from the 11th century.

The hilltop city in the M’Zab valley, which is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, lies 400 miles south of  the capital Algiers, not far from some of the country’s largest oilfields.

The two communities have coexisted for centuries, but as elsewhere in the region, limited economic opportunities, despite the proximity of Algeria’s vast oil and gas wealth, have aggravated social tensions.

Berbers represent around 30 percent of the Algerian population and have long considered themselves marginalized by the country’s dominant Arab culture.

For now, calm has been restored in Ghardaia following the deployment of police and troop reinforcements.

But analysts warn that the tensions risk escalating across the M’Zab valley if the government fails to address the underlying grievances among the region’s 400,000 strong population.