From a small Delta village Mohamed El-Sayed reports on a slaughter of horrific proportions Midday in the small, riverside village of Al-Kallaf, Banha, 80 kilometres north of Cairo, Essam Afifi and his brother's wives were busy cooking lunch for the poor 11-member family while their six young children were playing with their grandmother. Suddenly, Afifi woke up to the shouts of men banging down the door of his mud-brick house with the butt of automatic rifles. Afifi jumped from a window into the neighbouring maize-cultivated land and then into the Nile, leaving his hapless family to face their fate. The gunmen stormed the house, spraying bullets at random, many lodging in the heads and hearts of the victims. Neither the screams of terrified children nor the begging of helpless mothers managed to deter the attackers from shooting in cold blood five children, their two mothers and Afifi's brother. Blowing up gas canisters in front of the house was the last step in a mass murder whose onslaught lasted for more than four hours. Only the grandmother, who was protected by her son's back that received dozens of bullets, and a newborn whose mother held him tightly to her bosom, miraculously survived the massacre with deep wounds that have kept them in intensive care in Banha Educational Hospital. What happened to Afifi's household was repeated in 10 other homes in the village, leaving in total 13 dead and dozens of villagers injured. All houses were burned, while the hundred or so residents of the village fled to neighbouring villages. According to eyewitnesses who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, the police arrived at the scene of the crime an hour after the massacre began. However, police officers failed to intervene after the assailants blocked the only route leading to the village, leaving the officers standing helplessly by until the killing spree had come to an end. Even the ambulance that ventured into the village to save whoever was still alive was attacked by the gunmen, and could do nothing until the bloodbath ended at 6pm. The grisly tale began when, according to police investigations, Helmi El-Kallaf shot Fathi El-Rifai dead on noon Thursday while El-Rifai was on his way to his fields. El-Rifai's son and nephew escaped and crossed the river to the other side in Mit Bira in Menoufiya where they sought the help of in-laws and a group of friends who, seeking revenge, besieged the village and started shooting all on sight and burning houses down. The reasons behind the initial killing concern a land dispute. Notorious for being a drug and weapons baron, El-Rifai bought most of the agricultural land, about 40 feddans, in the village from a landlord, and turned it into a safe haven for his gangsters and drug dealers. But El-Rifai wanted the remaining four feddans owned by the Kallafs in order to turn the village into a fortress-like residence. He repeatedly warned the Kallafs that either they leave or they would be killed, according to villagers. El-Rifai was said to have government connections which became a source of tremendous prestige and power for him, and was soon using his influence for illicit gains. Some villagers interviewed by the Weekly said El-Rifai and his thugs were used by the authorities in frightening the electorate away from polling stations during previous parliamentary elections, thus turning a blind eye to his shady practices. "I cannot imagine why the security forces did not intervene to stop the carnage when it began," one of the victims told the Weekly on condition of anonymity. "The authorities are to blame for all that happened because they protected El-Rifai and his gang for years although we filed complaints to security officials about his illegal doings in the village which included trafficking and trading in weapons," he added. Many a villager also told the Weekly that El-Rifai used to impose a curfew on the village in the evening. Security forces managed to arrest El-Kallaf on Monday and a large number of the members of the two families. Many others are still at large. Having hid in the Nile waters for 11 hours, Afifi was eventually picked up by police. Taken to the morgue, he found the bodies of eight of his family members. Now, he stays day and night on the second floor of Banha Educational Hospital near the beds of his seriously wounded mother and nephew. Traumatised by the death of almost his entire family, he frequents his burned house every day, but he has no hope of rebuilding his devastated life. What makes his agony worse is that he did not belong to either of the two fighting families. "My innocent family was caught in the middle of this blood feud," he said.
