A policeman and two civilians were shot at a family funeral in Aswan. It was unclear if Major Mohammed Abu Alnasr Mashaly was attending the funeral as a mourner or a security official. Major Ahmed Hader of the Interior Ministry’s central offices confirmed that Mashaly was shot in the leg on Saturday after “two families were quarreling at a funeral.”
The family member, a man from Mansoura, was attacked while digging a well in Aswan. As the man dug, dust and debris from the hole ended up in front of the home of a man, who became infuriated. Al-Amir Mamdouh, an activist in Aswan, said that the man was so angry he took a bat and beat the man from Mansoura to death.
At the funeral, the family of the attacker arrived. Evidently still holding a grudge, they opened fire on those gathered, resulting in the aforementioned three injuries.
As a response, three homes and a shop, all belonging to the attackers family, were set on fire.
The shooting in Aswan comes two weeks after the Aswan governor was forced out by protestors saying he was linked to the old regime. He is rumored to be replaced with a member of the Freedom and Justice Party, a move that is being criticisedby some.
In a disturbing trend for the country’s police force, the interior ministry also recently announced that policemen were shot, though not fatally, on the Alexandria Desert Road and in the north coast in the town of Damietta.
