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Drug raid in Manial, Cairo leads to clashes at police station Violence erupts in front of an Old Cairo police station in Manial, Cairo, after a drug raid, leaving one dead and two different stories
Last Monday night the Manial area, Cairo witnessed violent clashes between citizens and the Old Cairo station police force, where one citizen was reportedly killed. According to an official source in the ministry of interior the clashes started when the police force conducted a drug raid in the Ezbat Abu Karn area of Old Cairo. They caught and arrested fugitives and alleged drug dealers last Sunday. Their families then besieged the police station late Monday night to free them. The official account states that not less than 200 residents of Ezbat Abu Karn area surrounded the temporary police station headquarters at Manial Youth Center demanding the release of those arrested and tried to break in to free them, firing gunshots in the air. During the clashes 17 year-old Mohamed Gamal was shot and later died. The other side of the story, recorded by Egyptian bloggers and activists who managed to interview the citizens of Ezbat Abu Karn, is that they were protesting peacefully outside the police station asking for the whereabouts of the men who were arrested. Furthermore, the protesters stated they had no intention of breaking in to the police station. The citizens refuted the drug dealing charges against their family members and accused the police force of dispersing the demonstration violently. According to the citizens, 17 year-old Mohamed Gamal was shot by a police officer. The Ezbat Abu Karn residents cut the Saleh Salem Road for couple of hours last night before it was opened again by the police and military police. The Old Cairo police station was allegedly torched during the January 25 Revolution by angry citizens.
