CAIRO: At least three people have been confirmed to have been killed in clashes in Egypt's Sohag in southern Egypt. The street battles have left government offices and business in the city shut down as violence has persisted for the past four days. The violence again erupted after the burial of the deceased. Youth in the town then attempted to take over a local police station. Security then defended the station as masses of young people converged on the station and prevented police from regaining control of the situation, local reports from the area said. One eye witness told Bikyamasr.com via telephone on Wednesday morning that the situation is “calm” on Wednesday, but could quickly erupt into chaos. “People are angry and they are armed with guns and this has made all of us very scared,” the witness said. According to reports from the ground and Egyptian media, residents in the city have taken weapons from the police station. Youth also tried to close the entrances of the city. When security forces prevented them from doing so, they closed the railway lines instead to impede the movement of trains. Qena and Assiut stations were affected by the closure. Sohag's security director and other security personnel arrived in an attempt to control the situation. He demanded that residents be calm, wise and end the violence to turn a new page with neighboring villages. After the burial, however, events again ignited after video clips were shown of the kidnap of four of the city's youth. City residents attempted to storm the offending village with Molotov cocktails, but security forces prevented them Witnesses in the city say there has been an exchange of gunfire between the two sides. Security forces are organizing groups to arrest suspects who are involved in the events or who carry arms. Violence has become commonplace in Egypt in recent weeks, with gun battles between local families in Cairo being reported. The military has intervened in these cases, but in Sohag there are fears that the violence could spiral out of control and leave the city in desperate need of security. “We don't know what will happen. It could end or it could become very big and lots of death,” said the witness. Other Egyptian media outlets have reported at least five people have been killed in the clashes. ** Bikyamasr.com staff contributed to this report. BM
