Nasser Elazazy
By Nasser Al-Ezazy
Hundreds of people from the Al-Risa district of Al-Arish blocked the main road towards Rafah in North Sinai on Monday. They were protesting the kidnapping of a 17 year old girl from Al-Risa, from in front of her home.
The protestors set fire to tyres outside the north Sinai governorate building and formed a human barrier to stop cars from passing, causing a traffic jam. They demanded officials quickly search for the missing girl, Alaa Mohammed Hamid, and arrest the kidnappers.
They also attempted to attack the General Sayed Abdel Fattah Harhoor, the governor of North Sinai. They prevented him from entering his office which hired security forces had been protecting until he arrived after cancelling a scheduled trip to central Sinai.
A relative of the kidnapped girl said, “unidentified gunmen kidnapped her on Sunday night and contacted people demanding a huge ransom which the family are not able to pay. This angered the parents of the girl who demonstrated this morning to demand that security find the girl and arrest the perpetrators.”
The protests continue against what the demonstrators call security negligence and the proliferation of acts of thuggery and kidnapping.
Additional Reporting by Joel Gulhane
