133 injured during post-match clashes in Cairo

CAIRO: Clashes between supporters of Egypt’s Al-Ahly football club and security forces on Tuesday night left 133 injured, including 71 security officers, according to the Ministry of Health.

An official ministry source told Daily News Egypt that 53 of the cases suffered mild injuries and were treated on site. The rest were transferred to separate hospitals including Nasr City and Mansheyet El-Bakry.

There were conflicting reports regarding the number of detainees, but a source at the interior ministry told DNE that 16 supporters were detained and charged with disturbing the peace as well as vandalizing public and private property. Ahmed Idris, member of Ultras Ahlawy, a group of hardcore fans of Al-Ahly, put the number at 20.

A total of 15 private cars, 12 police cars and two motorbikes belonging to traffic officers were torched during the clashes, according to the source.

Dozens of Ultras stood in the courtyard of the Police Academy, where ousted president Hosni Mubarak was being tried Wednesday, to reiterate their criticism of former regime figures and to support martyrs’ families.

“We are not a violent group and we’re not here to start clashes,” Idris said.

The group, he added, wanted to demonstrate that they were not afraid and that they would continue to speak out peacefully. At press time, no clashes were reported outside the court as the trial got underway.

Eyewitnesses said Tuesday’s clashes started when Al-Ahly supporters chanted slogans against Mubarak and former interior minister Habib El-Adly, leading to altercations with security forces, which were deployed at the stadium for the Al-Ahly-Kima Aswan match.

Idris, who was in the stadium during the clashes, recounted the incident saying that security forces ordered supporters to stop chanting, but they refused.

“We’ve been chanting against El-Adly for months now and even the court found him guilty of corruption,” he said, “Why do they suddenly find this wrong and insulting?”

Near the end of the second half of the match, supporters started chanting a song insulting the interior ministry and its officers. Tensions rose and insults were exchanged between Central Security Forces (CSF) and fans. At the end of the match, CSF suddenly charged towards supporters.

Clashes later moved onto Salah Salem Road, outside the stadium, as CSF chased supporters. The main thoroughfare was closed off to traffic for a period of time. Roads leading towards or close to the area were jammed for at least two hours.

Psychiatrist Ahmed Aboul Wafa was caught in middle of the clashes on his way home from work. “I saw dozens of kids between the ages of 15 and 16 standing on the side of the road looking absolutely terrified,” Aboul Wafa said.

He said the kids told people to stay in their cars because CSF were attacking them with rocks and they did not want civilians to be harmed.

“Then around 600 CSF charged, attacking the kids — some of the drivers tried to take the kids in their cars to protect them,” he said.

After around 25 minutes, the road was opened with rocks and glass flooding the street.

Aboul Wafa maintained that the kids were seen torching police cars and a few of them had knives. “But they were only young kids. I don’t care what they did, they shouldn’t have been brutally attacked like that,” he said.

Idris denied that Ultras had any part in torching or vandalizing public or private property.

“We were trying to prevent other supporters from doing so, but they were provoked and angered by the security forces,” he said.

Some media reports claimed that fans started throwing water bottles at CSF soldiers in the stadium to provoke them. General Mohsen Morad, assistant interior minister and Cairo’s security chief, said during a phone interview with Dream TV’s “Al-Ashera Masa’an” that supporters threw bags of urine at CSF in the stadium.

But Al-Ahly supporters refuted the claims and strongly criticized the ministry.

“We would never stoop to such a level of insult,” Idris stressed. “They have to make these void accusations to redeem themselves,” he added.

The Association of Al-Ahly Fans posted several photos of the clashes on its Facebook page, saying that CSF’s notorious violations against civilians remained the same “even after the revolution.”

Photos show CSF charging on Al-Ahly fans and attacking them with wooden rods as supporters attempted to flee the stadium.

Idris said the “unnecessary” large number of security forces deployed at the stadium indicated that the attack was premeditated.

“The number of security forces that were deployed in the stadium were much more than was needed in a match with Kima Aswan,” Idris said, explaining that the match was amicable and wasn’t likely to end in violence.

Opposition powers including the April 6 Youth Movement and presidential hopeful Abdel-Monem Aboul-Fotoh were quick to defend Al-Ahly supporters against the ministry’s accusations and condemned the attack.

“The ministry still deals with the citizens using extreme violence which is unjustifiable according to the law,” Aboul-Fotouh said in a statement Wednesday, describing the attack as “brutal” and “an attempt to seek vengeance from those who participated in the revolution.”

April 6 even went as far as demanding the resignation of Morad and ministry spokesperson General Marwan Mostafa for their statements against the Ultras.

“Ultras Ahlawy played a big part in protecting the revolution,” read a statement issued by the movement on Wednesday. They also lashed out at Morad for failing to protect the streets and citizens while Ultras formed neighborhood watch groups towards that end.

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Riot police clash with Ahly football club supporters after the team’s Egyptian Cup match against Kima Aswan in Cairo overnight on Sept. 7. (AFP PHOTO/STR)