162 Charged Over Aswan Tribal Clashes

One hundred and sixty-two people are to be tried over deadly tribal clashes in Aswan in April.

They are accused of killing, assault, kidnapping and torching houses.

According to a statement by the prosecutor-general’s office on Monday, the prosecution investigated the killing of 25 persons, listened to statements by 44 injured people and 74 eyewitnesses, checked 65 torched houses, eight torched shops, three torched cars and six motorcycles.

For nearly a week in early April clashes took place between the Nubian Daboudiya clan and the Arab El-Halayel clan. At least 25 people were killed and dozens were injured.

The clashes, the worst tribal violence in Upper Egypt for a decade, reportedly started on 3 April 2014 when teenagers from the Daboudiya clan wrote insulting statements about the Arab El-Halayel tribe on the wall of a school in Aswan.

Investigators said 82 members of the Daboudiya clan and 81 members of the El-Halayel clan were involved in the clashes. Thirty-four Daboudiya clan members and 32 members of the El-Halayel clan were arrested.

The prosecutor-general ordered the defendants to remain in detention. He also ordered the arrest of 97 other suspects in the case and the release of three.

Source : Ahram online