Hundreds of Brotherhood members hurt in Nile Delta clashes: Egypt's FJP

Ahram Online, Friday 21 Jun 2013

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood accuses opposition officials of being behind spate of violence in Kafr Al-Sheikh, which group says has left hundreds of its members injured

At least 357 members of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) have been injured in recent clashes with political opponents in the city of Dosouk in Egypt's Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate, FJP Secretary-General Mohamed El-Heleisy announced Thursday.

According to El-Heleisy, six injuries were the result of gunshots and 90 of birdshot, in addition to 87 injuries from bladed weapons and 76 by blunt instruments.

"The injured have been taken to hospitals in nearby governorates, such as Beheira, Alexandria and Gharbiya," he said at a press conference.

The health ministry, however, has stated that the clashes left only 14 injured.

El-Heleisy added that 21 legal complaints had been filed blaming certain opposition figures for the violence, including officials affiliated with the liberal Constitution party, the anti-government 'Rebel' campaign and the Egyptian popular current, along with former Kafr Al-Sheikh MP Youssef El-Badry.

Clashes in Kafr Al-Sheikh were sparked by the president’s appointment of seven Muslim Brotherhood members as new regional governors on Sunday, putting eleven of Egypt’s 27 provinces under Brotherhood-affiliated governors.

Last Tuesday, anti-government protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at the residence of Kafr Al-Sheikh Governor Saad El-Husseini and set his car alight. El-Husseini, a leading Brotherhood member, was appointed governor last September.

A subsequent statement by the Kafr Al-Sheikh governor's office blamed the assault on "thugs affiliated with the 'Rebel' campaign and remnants of the former regime."

Sunday's gubernatorial appointments have provoked similar clashes in other governorates, with dozens injured in Fayoum and Gharbiya within recent days.

Islamist parties and groups held pro-government rallies Friday to 'Say no to political violence.'

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