Four people were killed and 25 injured during the clashes that erupted in Al-Ayyat village in the Giza Governorate on Sunday afternoon.
Al-Ayyat resident Ahmed Aly said that clashes started 2pm on Sunday between two groups of thugs. “One famous thug, nicknamed Darsh, with his men attacked another group of thugs due to a clash between them about racketeering territory,” Aly said. “They exchanged gunfire near a school in the village for two hours.”
The clashes caused one death of one of the men affiliated with Darsh.
Later, Ali said, Darsh and his group of thugs stormed Al-Masaken, the main street in the village, firing wildly and setting fire to local shops. The attack caused three more deaths, bringing the death toll to four, and the destruction of five shops. These shops, according to Ali, had rejected to pay protection money to Darsh.
The village’s residents, who live roughly 50km away from the recent crackdowns in Kerdasa, used microphones in mosques to urge others to stay in their homes, according to Aly.
On late Sunday, he said, they had set fire to Darsh’s home, as well as that of another “thug” in retaliation for the earlier attacks. The decision to take such action, Aly said, came in light of the absence of police forces.
Al-Ahram reported on Monday afternoon that the Ministry of Interior deployed forces to “liberate Al-Ayyat from thugs.” The ministry was unavailable to comment.
The situation in the southern Giza village remains uncertain, with residents calling for civil disobedience on Tuesday in response to the attacks, according to Aly.