Egypt: Police clash with Bedouins, 3 dead
Hundreds of armed tribesmen storm Egyptian security checkpoint in outpour of rage following killing of Bedouin smuggler, at least three Bedouin reported killed
Egyptian police shot and killed three Bedouin men during clashes Tuesday in a restive area of the Sinai Peninsula near the Israeli border, security and local government officials said.
Five police officers were injured in the clashes, which broke out about three miles south of where armed clashes between police and Bedouin erupted the night before, officials said. Egypt's Interior Ministry confirmed clashes had taken place in the border area - but did not say whether anyone was killed or injured.
Armed Bedouin attacked a security checkpoint earlier Tuesday and seized 11 policemen, an Egyptian security official said.
The Bedouin tribesmen were angered by a police shooting a day earlier that killed a suspected Bedouin smuggler in the area. Smugglers use the border area to send weapons, drugs and other items into the Gaza Strip, often through underground tunnels. Traffickers also ferry African migrants seeking to enter Israel. State news agency MENA identified the dead man as a drug dealer, although Bedouin sources denied that.
"There are 700 Bedouins at least taking part in the protest. Some opened fire heavily in the air," said Moussa Salem, who was taking part in the demonstration.
The Bedouin tribesmen raided a security checkpoint and dragged the 10 policemen and a senior officer into getaway cars in a town six miles (10 kilometers) from the Israeli border, the security official said.
In the incident a day earlier, police were chasing two Bedouin smugglers in a car and shot and killed one of them, he said. The other man was injured.
Tribesman Moussa Abu Freh said Bedouin had taken over several other checkpoints near the Egyptian-Israel border.
Relations between the police and Bedouin have been tense for a long time and deteriorated further in 2004 when police detained thousands on suspicion of possible links to a group that had bombed Sinai tourist resorts.
Egypt has blamed a series of attacks on tourist targets in Sinai between 2004 and 2006 on a group of Bedouin with militant Islamist views. Bedouins resent the mistrust and complain of police harassment.
Northern Sinai is home to about 200,000 formerly nomadic Bedouin. It is one of Egypt's poorest areas with high unemployment levels.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
