Clashes In Mansoura Escalate After Funeral Of Slain Young Man
Clashes have re-erupted in Mansoura after the funeral of a slain young man was held Saturday and attended by hundreds, including leading political and party figures. Tens of angry protesters threw rocks at Mansoura general prison during the funeral, reported Ahram Arabic website.
According to media reports, masses also broke into Mansoura’s security directorate.
After the funeral, tens of protesters blocked the Geish Road using burned tires before Central Security Forces (CSF) fired tear gas grenades. Protesters threw back Molotov cocktails.
Electricity has been cut off in the area surrounding the governorate headquarters where the clashes are ongoing.
Hossam Abdel-Azim was killed in clashes in Egypt’s Nile Delta city of Mansoura when he was hit by a police vehicle during a demonstration. His father says he was not participating in the protest.
The media spokesman for the Ministry of Interior announced Saturday that Abdel-Azim, who was pronounced dead in the early hours of the day, was “accidentally killed.”
Meanwhile, the Constitution Party and the April 6 Movement released a statement Saturday condemning police violence and mourning the killed activist.
The Constitution Party, led by Mohamed ElBaradei, demanded that the interior minister be dismissed for the violence in Mansoura and earlier in the coastal Port Said, where clashes left more than 50 dead.
The two groups also condemned the government, as well as President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from which he hails, for the escalation of state violence and oppression.
The two statements also confirmed and condemned that Brotherhood militias were used to attack protesters during recent events, in addition to police brutality.
“We are facing kidnapping and brutal torture in places of detention, the imprisonment of children and the targeted killing of revolutionaries, without having officials held accountable; on the contrary, with the encouragement of the regime, represented by the president,” read the Constitution Party statement.
The clashes in Mansoura come almost a week after activists called for civil disobedience in the city to protest the rule of President Morsi.
Calls for civil disobedience have been echoing across several major Egyptian cities, including Port Said, Ismailia, Suez and Mahalla, where fierce clashes have been ongoing since the January 25 Revolution’s second anniversary.
Ahram
