Three died and over 20 were injured in the town of Gerga in the governorate of Sohag. There are children crying and women screaming, crashed shops, burnt houses and a heavy presence of police and army forces in the streets. Clashes broke out when an argument because of a Tuk Tuk, an auto rickshaw, turned into a civil war between two families, one from Gerga and another from Naga' Owais village. Tension increased when a police station was stormed and all the weapons were stolen from inside. A police officer was assaulted and the streets turned into a battlefield. The former deputy Minister of Interior Affairs, Hosam Lasheen, thinks the lawless state is the reason behind such clashes and took advantage to start a battle between family feuds. Clashes resulted in three dead and more than 21 severely injured all over a mere Tuk Tuk. Lasheen added tribal loyalty among Upper Egypt people led to development, as Gerga's residents had the police intervene when the police station was stormed and all the weapons were inside. He also said having police officers trials now before Cairo Criminal Court made the police officers think twice before shooting, even shooting in the air to disperse crowds. The police just shot tear gas bombs. The police forces withdrew from the streets when clashes couldn't be controlled, said the security expert Mahmoud Katry. He also said the clashes could have been avoided and the situation could have been controlled from the beginning if there was proper security existence where the brawl started. He added police forces are most responsible for these incidents and the Ministry of Interior still follows the former regime's ways. The promises of the current Minister of Interior, Mansour el-Issawi, are not yet achieved. In cases like these, big families and mayors are used to ease tribal tension, since it holds an important role in Upper Egypt.
