A police officer and a soldier were killed and three others injured Wednesday when unidentified gunmen attacked a police bus transporting prisoners from the canal city of Ismailia to the coastal city of Arish in North Sinai. Eight prisoners managed to escape during the melee.
According to security sources, armed Bedouins ordered police officer Ahmed Nour, 28, to release one of the prisoners, named Salem, who was accused of kidnapping a police recruit during a Bedouin demonstration on the border. After the young officer refused, the attackers reportedly opened fire on the bus, shooting Nour in the head. They also killed 25-year-old soldier Sayed Ismail, while another three soldiers were wounded in the exchange.
Security sources also say that the driver of a passing car had been wounded by the gunfire. He was later taken to hospital under heavy security.
Police have reportedly begun combing the vicinity for the perpetrators and closing all roads in the area. Eyewitnesses reported seeing Central Security forces heading towards where the families of the escaped prisoners live.
Relations between local Sinai residents and police have been fraught with tension in recent years, with Bedouin tribesmen accusing police of brutality and–in some cases–murder in cold blood.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
