Alexandria protests end in violence, arrests

A protest in Alexandria allegedly affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood devolved into clashes with area residents on Sunday, prompting police forces to disperse the demonstrators, arresting four, reported the state-owned news site Ahram Gate.

Hundreds of protesters were marching down Ahmed Abu Soliman Street in Alexandria’s eastern district when the violence broke out. An Alexandria Security Directorate source said two of the street’s residents were injured in the incident, but protesters claimed the men inflicted the injuries upon themselves.

Police arrested four assailants identified as Muslim Brotherhood members who were involved in the clashes, including a 15-year-old student, according to security sources.

The suspects were purportedly arrested in possession of flares, brochures that contained material sympathetic to the Brotherhood and bore the illegal black-and-yellow icon of Rabea al-Adaweya, a fire arm and a vendetta mask, Ahram Gate reported.

For the past year, pro-Brotherhood marches in Alexandria have often ended into violence. In May, clashes in the south Alexandria district of Ammreya left two people dead and four injured. Security forces arrested 27 protesters on charges of possessing homemade bombs and Molotov cocktails.