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Hundreds of students have staged protests in several university cities across Algeria to voice their opposition to ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term.

Answering calls posted on social networks, students skipped classes Tuesday to join the gatherings held on campuses.

The 81-year-old Bouteflika's announcement this month that he would seek a new term has unleashed a wave of protests in the country.

Students chanted slogans hostile to Bouteflika, who is expected to run again in April despite serious questions over his fitness for office after a 2013 stroke that left him largely infirm.

At the Benaknoun university in Algiers, students blocked traffic and installed a coffin-shaped board in the middle of the road on top of which they placed an Algerian flag and a picture of Bouteflika.