Archive for military forces

Military court postpones Qursaya clashes trial to 5 December

by admin
December 4th, 2012

A military tribunal on Wednesday postponed the trial of 25 residents of Qursaya Island who are charged with assaulting Armed Forces personnel and encroaching on their property, to 5 December.


Ibrahim Radwan, a defense lawyer, said the Military Prosecution submitted a copy of a document granting the Armed Forces the right to use any land needed to establish security in the country.



Alaa Farouq, a lawyer for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said the military court has agreed to admit two of the defendants, namely Maher Youssef and Mahmoud Shabaan, to the prison hospital due to injuries they sustained during clashes after military forces attempted to evict Qursaya residents from their homes.



The clashes on the Giza Island led to the death of one citizen. The military tribunal charged 25 residents with incitement against, and resistance to, army forces.


Representatives of four civil society organizations attended the previous court session.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Mohamed Ali, a spokesperson for the Armed Forces, said the island is a possession of the Armed Forces and added that the Armed Forces will firmly address violations of the law and curb “thuggery” at any cost.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm




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Two jihadists arrested in Sinai as Operation Eagle crackdown continues

by admin
November 9th, 2012

 

Two jihadist militants have been arrested in the course of a raid in Arish City, security sources said on Friday.

"The raids carried out by police and military forces during the past 48 hours resulted in detaining Ahmed Allam Hefny and Mohamed Abdallah Abdel Rahman, two of the jihadist elements wanted by the security forces in the Sinai," a security source told the German news agency DPA.

The source added that the police and Armed Forces in Sinai will continue the crackdown. Security reinforcements, equipment and armored vehicles are still flocking to Sinai in order to tighten control over all areas.

The police and Armed Forces have been engaged in a crackdown on militant groups in Sinai since August, following the murder of 16 border guards in Rafah on 5 August.

The past week witnessed number of attacks targeted police men in North Sinai. On Tuesday a senior police leader was injured by anonymous gunmen in an attack on a police car in Arish City, North Sinai. The incident came few days after three policemen were killed in the same city.

Police in North Sinai have protested what they call their lack of sophisticated weapons and the failure of the joint army-police crackdown on militants, known as Operation Eagle.

Edited translation from DPA

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Egypt army kills Sinai militants in response to border assault

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August 8th, 2012

Military forces and jets killed 20 militants in the Sinai region bordering Israel in the early hours of Wednesday, striking back after armed men attacked several security checkpoints, an army commander in Sinai told Reuters.

"We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armored cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing," he told Reuters.

The military is responding to attacks that began Sunday, which the government blamed partly on Islamists. Sixteen border guards were killed in the Sunday assault.

The commander said the army had received information that many militants were in al-Toumah village, Reuters reported.

State TV also reported injuries among Egyptian troops this week. Egypt's Nile News satellite channel said that an army captain and at least four soldiers were injured in attacks targeting security checkpoints at Rayssa, Bir al-Abd and Kharoba on Tuesday evening.

Eyewitnesses told Al-Masry Al-Youm that there are more deaths and injuries among militants in the Gemeay area of eastern Arish, which is a stronghold for extremists, but did not specify the number of casualties.

According to a source quoted by Nile News, the military offensive will continue using both ground and air forces.  

German news agency DPA quoted a different security source as saying that the campaign includes the cities of Rafah, Sheikh Zuwayed and Arish.

The Second Field Army began preparing on Tuesday for a military operation in the Gabal al-Halal area of Sinai. State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported Wednesday that the operations are ongoing there as well.

Security sources have said they believe the suspects in Sunday’s attack on the Egypt-Israel border have fled to the Gabal al-Halal area.

Military and Interior Ministry forces intensified on Tuesday their presence on the roads leading to the area, as well as on Rafah International Road and Karam Abu Salem Road near where the incident took place.

Special forces and police will assist the army in the Gabal al-Halal operation and reconnaissance helicopters will be deployed in the area, a military leader in Rafah told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

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3 Iraqis arrested for filming military areas

by admin
June 18th, 2012

 

Three Iraqi Kurds were arrested on Monday by military forces in Mansoura while they were filming military vehicles and secured areas.

According to a military source, the commander of the Second Field Army referred Zad Abdel Halim Mohamed, 25; Siwa Mohamad Hama, 23; and Kurda Abdul Aziz Mahmoud, 25, to the military prosecutor for investigation. A report has been filed against them by the Mansoura police department.

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Activists, rights groups struggle to keep Abbasseya detainees in limelight

by admin
May 20th, 2012

While the country is preoccupied with the presidential election set for Wednesday and Thursday, certain activists, politicians and human rights groups are trying to keep the spotlight on dozens of protesters arrested following the early May clashes in front of the Defense Ministry in Abbasseya.

Twelve people were killed, including a police officer, in the fighting between military forces and anti-military protesters.

In a Saturday press conference, the No to Military Trials Campaign condemned the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for referring civilians to military tribunals that lack the minimum standards of a fair trial.

The group posted a statement written by detainees saying that the military council arrested them without charge inside and around the Nour Mosque, and subsequently tortured them in detention.

The group also said it has documented at least 320 arrests and hundreds of other cases of demonstrators being tortured or injured while military forces dispersed the Abbasseya protest with excessive force and carried out random arrests of civilians in the area.

Many detainees were arrested from hospitals where they had been receiving emergency medical attention, including doctors and paramedics treating the injured at field hospitals in the area, the statement said, adding that other violations were committed against journalists covering the protest.

No to Military Trials demanded that authorities immediately release all detainees, drop all charges against them, stop all forms of brutality against them, and ensure their safety and the provision of medical care for those injured.

The campaign also demanded that authorities not impede the supply of food and medicine to detainees, and to release a list of their full names and whereabouts so that their families and lawyers can assist them.

On Saturday Human Rights Watch, an international NGO, issued a report based on interviews with many who had been arrested and subsequently released in the clashes, along with their lawyers. According to the report, they said “military soldiers beat and tortured protesters they arrested at a demonstration near the Defense Ministry.”

The report said many of those released gave consistent accounts of torture and beatings while in detention.

“On [4 May], after the protest turned violent, military officers arrested at least 350 protesters, including 10 children and 16 women,” the report reads.

“When they first took me inside the military base they started beating me with sticks and with the end of a gun in my back. They beat me for around an hour. I had long hair at the time and at one point the soldier grabbed me by the hair and banged my head against the wall, again and again. They hit me in the kidneys; everywhere on my body with sticks and with their fists and they kicked me,” the report quoted a protester, Abdel Hamid Mekkawy, as saying.

On Sunday, presidential candidate Khaled Ali went on hunger strike for one day in solidarity with the Abbasseya detainees, who have announced an open-ended hunger strike as of Sunday until their demands for the immediate release of all detainees and abolition of military trials for civilians are met.

In addition, over 30 journalists joined the hunger strike in solidarity with the detainees, and 23 parties and coalitions announced a symbolic strike, including No to Military Trials, the 25 January Revolution Youth Coalition, the Revolutionary Socialists, the Egyptian Current Party, the Free Islamic Coalition and the Salafi Front.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Trial of soldiers accused of killing Maspero protesters adjourned to 31 May

by admin
May 18th, 2012

A military court adjourned Thursday evening the trial of three soldiers accused of killing protesters in front of the Maspero state television building last October to 31 May. The court will continue hearing defense witnesses at that time.

Nearly 30 protesters were killed and hundreds were injured on 9 October when military forces violently broke up a Coptic-led demonstration in front of Maspero. At least 14 people were crushed by armored military vehicles, which were seen mowing protesters down in videos spread on the internet.

The soldiers are charged with manslaughter. Their lawyer, Munir Ramadan, spoke to the press about the testimony of a captain who was responsible for the armored vehicles surrounding the Maspero building.

Ramadan said the captain stressed in his testimony that a number of protesters threatened the armed forces securing the building, saying, “Just wait until Shubra residents come; they will cut you into pieces.”

The captain added that the clashes began after a march of thousands arrived to Maspero and some demonstrators lit a jeep belonging to the armed forces on fire. He also alleged that protesters stole a machine gun and four automatic weapons from an armored vehicle.

In his testimony, the captain claimed that the soldiers in armored vehicles were attacked by a large number of protesters and were trying to escape after one soldier was killed and more were wounded.

The captain added that demonstrators had lowered the protective shield on the windshield of an armored vehicle, blocking the driver’s vision.

Military forces accused of killing protesters at Maspero are being tried in military courts while civilian defendants accused of assaulting military personnel have been referred to the state security prosecutor.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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293 people referred to trial over cabinet clashes

by admin
May 7th, 2012

The judges investigating the clashes that took place last December in front of the cabinet building decided on Monday to refer 293 people to trial.

In mid-December, military forces violently dispersed a sit-in outside the cabinet protesting Kamal al-Ganzouri’s appointment as Prime Minister by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Ganzouri served as prime minister during the Mubarak era.

Protesters also were demanding that the SCAF immediately transfer power to a civilian body. At least 17 people were killed during the clashes.

The court ordered 269 defendants to be referred to Cairo Criminal Court and 24 juveniles to Juvenile Court for taking part in the incident.

The defendants are accused of resisting authority, arson, theft, breaking into and damaging government buildings and institutions, damaging private and public property, hindering the work of public facilities and possessing bladed weapons and Molotov cocktails.

Other defendants were accused of possessing and taking drugs, practicing medicine without a license, attempting to break into the Interior Ministry to burn it, damaging and burning vehicles of the Health Ministry and the General Authority for Roads, Bridges and Land Transport as well as private cars on a street close to the cabinet headquarters.

The Institut d'Egypte, the cabinet headquarters, the People's Assembly and Shura Council and the General Authority for Roads, Bridges and Land Transport building were attacked, stormed and partly burned, according to the indictment.

The case is to be referred to Cairo Court of Appeals to specify the criminal court circuit and the date for the trial.

Investigations are still underway and will be announced in a few days, while no military or police personnel are among the defendants, judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Road in Salloum reopened after clashes killed two on Tuesday

by admin
April 11th, 2012

A road that had been blocked in Salloum was reopened on Wednesday after tribal elders convinced residents to stop their demonstration protesting the death of two people at the hands of military forces.

Clashes had erupted Tuesday evening in the port town, which is on the border between Libya and Egypt, when protesters attempted to block the international road between the two countries.

Local residents were protesting higher tolls for trucks traveling the road, which jumped from LE450 to LE600. The army then intervened to open the road, which led to the clashes that killed Anwar Abdel Maksoud, 14, and Abdel Moula Mahmoud Beshry, 23. Five residents were wounded.

A delegation of tribal elders arrived in Salloum on Wednesday to calm the situation down. They were asked to relay the message that the residents want the victims to be declared martyrs, and their families to be financially compensated.

On Wednesday, demonstrators blocked the road leading to the port from the western side, set fire to tires and denied entry to trucks and individuals coming in from the Libyan side, only allowing a number Libyan families to go out. The delegation managed to negotiate an end to the protest.

Meanwhile, businesses in the Salloum landport on the Egyptian side are closed.

The residents of Salloum have requested an apology from Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, for the bloody clashes between the army and the people. They also demanded that he refer the perpetrators to prosecution.

The people of the city refused to bury the bodies or accept solace unless Tantawi comes in person to apologize to the families of the victims. They also called for an official investigation into the incident.

Matrouh prosecutor Karim Abdel Aziz sent the bodies to the Alexandria Forensics Department to determine the cause of death.

Meanwhile, Matrouh Governor Taha Mohamed al-Sayed denied that he has resigned over the incident.

Protesters had burned down a military intelligence building Tuesday in Salloum, the state-run daily Al-Ahram reported.

Egyptian security sources said on Wednesday that military reinforcements will arrive in Salloum from Alexandria to help with the situation.

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MP demands the reopening of downtown streets

by admin
February 26th, 2012

MP Mostafa al-Naggar has submitted an urgent request to the People’s Assembly asking for the immediate reopening of the downtown streets that have been blocked for nearly four months by walls built by security forces.

Naggar, who is affiliated with Adl Party, asked that Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim remove all the walls erected across downtown streets.

Security forces built stone walls on several streets downtown following several incidents of clashes between protesters and security and military forces.

The military placed a concrete barricade across the vital Qasr al-Aini Street in downtown Cairo in the wake of December’s clashes between protesters and military forces in front of the cabinet building, in which 17 people were killed and at least 1,000 were injured. Barricades were also placed on Mohamed Mahmoud and Sheikh Rihan Streets, which lead to the Interior Ministry.

In the wake of clashes that erupted this month between protestors and security forces in front of the Interior Ministry in downtown Cairo, the armed forces built a number of additional concrete walls on streets near the ministry. Because of the barricades, most of the shops in the vicinity of the Interior Ministry were forced to close as customers were no longer able to access them.

Last week,  Dozens of Abdeen district residents organized a rally that headed to the People’s Assembly headquarters to demand the removal of the concrete barricades on streets leading to the Interior Ministry. The protesters said the barricades have affected businesses in the area.

Naggar demanded the removal of the concrete barriers so that this part of the city could be open as normal.

“Blocking those streets has harmed shop owners and residents,” he said. “It also scares away tourists and foreign investors.”
 

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Libya sends army to stop clashes in southeast – Reuters

by admin
February 19th, 2012
Libya sends army to stop clashes in southeast
Reuters
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya has sent military forces to stem clashes between rival tribes over control of territory in the far southeast of Libya, the armed forces chief said on Saturday, as more people were reported killed in the violence.

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