Tribal clashes in southern Egypt leave at least 23 dead

[Sally]

I guess the motto here should be not to insult another tribe or you will be killed.

Tribal clashes in southern Egypt leave at least 23 dead

By Amro Hassan
April 5, 2014, 11:23 a.m.

CAIRO — At least 23 people were killed and 31 injured in tribal clashes Friday in the southern Egyptian province of Aswan, according to official media.

The Egyptian army's chief spokesman, Col. Ahmed Ali, said Saturday that military forces had been deployed in an attempt to restore order. The confrontations did not appear to have a political dimension, but the army nonetheless suggested, without immediately providing proof, that the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood might have had some role in the bloodshed.

Reports said the fighting was triggered when students from a Nubian family sprayed slogans on walls denigrating members of an Arab clan.

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Tribal clashes in southern Egypt leave at least 23 dead - latimes.com

 

[Sunni Man]

And?? ...

 

[waltky]

Obama wantin' to know how dey usin' the military aid we sendin' `em?...

US worries its aid to Egypt may be misdirected
May 1, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Egyptian military recently used American-made Apache helicopter gunships to fire rockets into houses in the Sinai Peninsula, the latest in a series of lethal raids targeting a little-known al-Qaida-inspired group that has bombed civilians.

The April 23 raid came on the same day that the State Department lifted a hold on military aid to Egypt, announcing that it would send 10 more Apaches and $650 million to help that nation fight extremists in the Sinai desert. The Obama administration placed the hold last year after a military coup deposed Egypt’s elected leader, Mohamed Morsi. Although the White House has sharply criticized Cairo’s harsh crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups, it largely has embraced the aggressive campaign in Sinai against Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, which the State Department has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The group is not part of the Qaida network but shares its Islamic militant ideology, U.S. officials say.

The militant group took credit for a bus bombing in February that killed three South Korean tourists and an Egyptian driver in Sinai. In January, the militants downed a Russian-made military helicopter, killing several Egyptian soldiers, using a ground-to-air missile, an act that was captured on video. But with reports indicating that Egyptian security forces may have killed hundreds of people in response, some U.S. officials warn that the Egyptian actions may alienate civilians and spur anti-American sentiment. State Department officials have privately expressed concern about whether Egypt is adhering to U.S. aid rules that prohibit using U.S. weapons against civilians. “We fear that the Egyptian government’s heavy-handed tactics may be fueling recruitment for ABM or other extremist groups in the region,” a U.S. counterterrorism official said. “These groups are going to only get stronger if the response from the Egyptian government isn’t more calculated and more discriminating. This is a point that we have made at multiple levels to the Egyptian government.”

An AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter flies over desert terrain

The deepening concerns were clear when Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy met Wednesday with members of Congress and others on Capitol Hill. Members expressed support for Egypt’s moves against militants, but pressed Fahmy about the government’s tactics, according to one person present. Several senior Pentagon officials are meeting Egyptian authorities in Cairo this week. They include Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, who heads Central Command; Gen. David M. Rodriguez, who heads Africa Command; and Adm. William H. McRaven, who heads Special Operations Command. The Obama administration has struggled for months to limit the political crackdown launched by former Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Sisi, who now heads the Egyptian government.

The State Department expressed outrage in March when an Egyptian court sentenced 529 Muslim Brotherhood members to death after a two-day trial. This week, the same court sentenced an additional 683 people to death. Most of the sentences are expected to be commuted to prison terms. On Tuesday, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., who chairs an appropriation subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, blocked delivery of the $650 million in military aid, though not the Apache helicopters. He accused Egypt of “flouting ... human rights and appalling abuse of the justice system.” Leahy and other lawmakers are concerned about reports that Egypt’s military has engaged in indiscriminate shelling of Sinai villages and carried out mass arrests. They are pressing the government in Cairo for an explanation of how it will use the U.S. aid.

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