Details of Warraq riots against campaign to remove squatters

CAIRO – 17 July 2017: Clashes erupted Sunday between security forces and residents of the Warraq district in Giza during a campaign to remove squatters, resulting in injuries on both sides.

A citizen was killed, and 37 security personnel, including two major generals, were wounded in clashes between citizens and security forces, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday. Four of those are in critical condition.

Also, 19 rioters were injured in the face-off and 10 others were arrested, the ministry said.

The clashes erupted after security forces started removing encroachments and retaking state-owned lands from their illegal residents in the district.

Fifteen ambulances rushed to the scene and moved the injured to three hospitals, head of the Ambulance Authority Ahmed el Ansary said in a statement.

Some people attacked the troops with birdshot cartridges and stones in an attempt to discourage them from going on with the demolition operation, the ministry added.

The troops were forced to fire tear gas to disperse the protests, the ministry said. Later on, the forces retreated.

The public prosecution listened to 16 injured policemen and officers at Agouza Hospital.

ER doctor at Nile Hospital Wael Mohamed said that some Warraq residents assaulted the security staff to get the body of the dead citizen before the autopsy and writing the report on the condition and cause of death.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail commented on the incident, saying there are 700 decrees to remove encroachments in Waraq, and that 1,000 campaigns to remove squatters have been conducted since mid-May.

“A committee has been formed to investigate the incident, and the state must regain authority over its territories,” Ismail added, stressing that no single citizen has been dismissed from Waraq so far.

On a side note, the Ministry of Endowments denied what has been propagated on social media of imams using the mosques to incite citizens not to leave squatted lands.