Civilian shot, 2 policemen stabbed in Port Said clashes

One person was shot in the head and two low-ranking police officers were stabbed during ongoing clashes in Port Said near its security directorate on Tuesday afternoon, reported Ahram Arabic news website. Clashes intensified again when three Central Security Forces (CSF) vehicles arrived at the vicinity of the directorate and fired teargas at the groups gathering there. They in turn started throwing stones at the security forces. According to the website, unidentified persons carrying bladed weapons stabbed low-ranking police officers Salama Khalifa and Mohamed Fikry who were coming out of a side door of the directorate. They were stabbed in their chests as well as in other areas. Military forces arrived at the scene and reportedly fired shots in the air to disperse the crowds at the security directorate. The man who was shot was transferred to Port Said general hospital in a critical condition. The two policemen were transported to Port Said military hospital which in turn sent them to the police hospital in Cairo because of the gravity of their injuries. Clashes broke out Sunday in Egypt's Suez Canal city of Port Said when locals protested an interior ministry decision to transfer 39 detainees from Port Said to the Wadi Natroun Prison in the Beheira governorate located on the other side of the Nile Delta. Police reportedly fired teargas at the crowd. These detainees were convicted of involvement in last year's football disaster in which over 70 Ahly football club fans were killed after a match between Cairo's Ahly and Port Said's Masry. According to the ministry of health, at least 352 people have been injured in recent clashes in Port Said. Source: Ahram Online