CAIRO: A policeman was shot at a checkpoint in Sinai Thursday in the latest act of violence between Bedouins and security forces which was sparked by the death of a Bedouin on Monday.
Mohamed Mustafa Bandari, 22, was shot in the leg three times in a drive-by shooting at a police checkpoint in El-Matala near the Israeli border. He is in the hospital in stable condition.
Further reports that a police officer had also been shot were refuted by sources in the area.
It also emerged that during the clashes between Bedouins and security forces on Tuesday, when police stations were briefly taken by the Bedouins, that a number of guns and ammunition were seized by the protestors.
According to AFP, Bedouins seized 72 rifles and 20,000 bullets from a police station in Wadi Al-Azareq as well as night time goggles and walkie-talkies. An official told AFP that the search was continuing for the missing equipment.
It was at this police station that three Bedouins from Sinai were killed Tuesday night as clashes continued for a second day between police and locals along the Egyptian-Israeli border before further police reinforcements restored some semblance of calm on Wednesday. Thirty policemen were also wounded in the clashes.
Sinai’s Bedouins were angered by the death of a member of the Tarabeen tribe on Monday after he turned to drive away from a police checkpoint. His companion in the vehicle is currently being held in Al-Arish hospital as he receives treatment.
The shootings Monday triggered a mass wave of violent protests by Bedouins all along the border, as they burned tires and discharged gunshots. Twelve people were injured in the immediate fallout, including four policemen.
In two separate incidents, one near Rafah and another further south, angry Bedouins briefly kidnapped 25 and then 51 policemen in checkpoints along 15 km of the border before releasing them, the latest batch being released at dawn on Wednesday.
It was after the release of the kidnapped policemen along the 36 km line of the Egypt-Israel border that police shot and killed three of the protesting Bedouins, two of them from the Tarabeen tribe.
Bedouins are angry at the aura of suspicion that they claim the police has unfairly latched on them. Tribes living near the border are believed by police to be the main culprits in the smuggling that permeates the border, whether weapons, drugs or contraband.
