Several residents of a Giza village on Sunday stormed the house of a Shia family, torching it and torturing its dwellers, leaving four dead and eight injured.
The residents of the village of Zawyet Abu Musallam, in the township of Abul Nomros, beat to death four of the Shia residents as the police failed to intervene.
The dead bodies were transported to the Hawamdeya Hospital morgue, Yahia Moussa, official spokesperson for the Health Ministry, told the MENA news agency.
Moussa added that the deceased included a Shia leader named Hassan Shehata, as well as Shehata Mohamed Shehata, Abdel Qader Hussein Omar, and a fourth unidentified victim of 44 years of age.
An initial examination found that the victims’ bodies were replete with incisions, bruises, and marks caused by sharp objects. Authorities are awaiting the medical examiner's report to determine the cause of death.
Hassan Shehata, who originally came from Sharqiya but lived in the Dokki neighborhood of Giza, had arrived in the village on Sunday afternoon with his brother and a few other friends, according to the investigation. Then the rioting started, leaving four dead and eight injured.
Eyewitnesses told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Shehata and his group provoked the residents of the village when they performed several shia rituals.
The attackers chanted slogans, including “Shias are infidels” and “kill him… slaughter him.”
Security Forces meanwhile failed to intervene as the residents flocked to the streets.
The attackers set the one-story house of the Shia family on fire, and many of the assailants were carrying knives and guns.
Egypt has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population. Conservative Salafi groups have feared the rise of a shia tide ever since the January 2011 revolution that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power. Salafis are also wary of the recent political rapprochement between Egypt and Iran, which they fear could lead to an increase in the amount of Iranian tourists visiting Egypt.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm and MENA
