Masked men clash in Suez prison-break attempt

Armed clashes took place in Suez on Sunday between security forces and a number of masked men attempting to break out inmates from the central prison. They tried to grab weapons and ammunition as the army was helping evacuate the adjacent Ataka police station. Clashes also broke out between army personnel and victims' relatives outside Suez General Hospital as the latter were waiting to receive their relatives' dead bodies. More armoured personnel carriers and troops have been deployed to Suez to guard churches and key city squares and the army has announced a complaints hotline. The relatives of 60 prisoners were protesting against their family members being moved from Suez to Torah Prison. Despite the decision not to move them, the inmates mutinied and five of them climbed the prison walls amid heavy gunfire by the protesting families outside. The police station and the surrounding streets were encircled by a group of masked men and Bedouins riding motorcycles. They exchanged fire with army and police forces guarding the police station as policemen chased after prisoners who had climbed over the walls. Three inmates were injured in the outbreak of violence which stopped traffic in Ain el-Sokhna Road outside the police station. Traffic queued for over an hour as drivers were afraid to pass by the area for fear of injury. Flaming car tyres were also placed in the middle of the road. Panic struck locals in the Cabanon – el-Safa area as gunfire shattered houses' glass panels. Askar held a meeting Sunday outside the Suez town hall alongside a number of political leaders to reassure the public over the security situation and inform them that reinforcements had been deployed to restore order. Askar said that police forces were "off work until they recover," adding "There are three Central Security formations whose soldiers are in a very bad mental state after being attacked." More clashes took place between locals and army forces outside the Suez Police Station as protestors demanded justice for family members killed in the violence. The angry locals clashed with army personnel after trying to remove the police station's sign and replace it with banners demanding justice. Hundreds of grief-stricken locals had gathered Sunday morning outside the Suez General Hospital morgue to receive the bodies of their deal relatives after the coroners had completed their investigations. The gathered relatives wept and wailed amid chants of "Sleep and rest, martyr, and we will carry on the struggle" and "Blood for blood, bullet for bullet, we will have justice." The Salafist Dawah and its political arm, the Al Nour Party, provided a number of vehicles to drive locals to their homes after privately-owned transport services stopped working.  An official source in the Petroleum Cooperative Society in Suez reported that the movement of petroleum products on the roads was suspended for the second day running due to the security situation. The army Morale Affairs Directorate has announced a hotline enabling locals to report on criminal activity, suspicious gatherings or acts of vandalism. The hotline numbers are: 062-3682800 and 062-3671962.