Three more attacks on police stations around Egypt were reported late on Saturday, renewing fears of a security void in the aftermath of the Port Said football massacre.
In Monufiya Governorate, seven masked men attacked Monouf Police Station on Saturday afternoon with machine guns and exchanged fire with security forces, according to eyewitnesses. Two people were injured. In coordination with security, dozens of young people cordoned off the scene to protect citizens.
Security forces in the town of Mashtoul in Sharqiya Governorate on Saturday foiled an attempt by eight prisoners to escape by firing shots into the air and using tear gas. Local residents helped control the situation.
Sharqiya security chief Major General Mohamed al-Antary had received a warning that prisoners were trying to break open their cells and prison gates to escape.
In Ismailia, two policemen were killed and three injured, including the police chief of Abu Soweir Police Station, when armed Bedouins attacked the station, according to a security source.
The source said the Bedouins continued to fire in the direction of the building in an attempt to help a suspect in a drug case escape, while residents formed cordons to protect the police station.
On Friday and Saturday, attacks on Marg, Matariya, Salam and Tebein police stations had been reported, and security services foiled a mass escape attempt at Mostaqbal Public Prison.
Many say the attacks — which come on the heels of a massacre of at least 71 people at a football game in Port Said that many blamed on a security failure — emphasize the urgent need to restructure the security apparatus. Twelve people have been killed in protests against security forces since the massacre on Wednesday.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
