Police fire birdshot, teargas at Warraq residents in most violent protest dispersal yet, source says

At least seven residents of Warraq Island were injured on Thursday by police personnel who fired birdshot and tear gas to disperse a residents protest, a source from the island told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

The protest came after an altercation was instigated on the island on Wednesday by a member of the police force. The disagreement escalated into a protest — the latest of several staged by residents in recent weeks to oppose a ban on the delivery of construction materials to the island. 

The source said that the protest was sparked by an incident on Wednesday which began with a police officer beating a local tuk tuk driver. A resident objected and the officer responded by physically and verbally assaulting the resident.

Residents gathered in protest on Wednesday. The deputy head of the Giza security directorate intervened and reached out to several families, promising them to arrange a meeting during which the officer was expected to issue a public apology to the two victims.

"What happened was that he was stalling us as police amassed forces, to the point that we were shocked to see around 1,000 police personnel under the bridge, firing at us," the source said. 

They added that the same police officer involved in the first incident wounded three other locals with a bladed weapon on Thursday morning when they went to follow up on the agreement with the security directorate official. 

The escalation led hundreds of Warraq residents to gather in protest on Thursday morning near the police assembly point on the island. Security forces fired live rounds into the air to break up the gathering, said the source, and civil defense forces intervened to extinguish a fire caused by tear gas canisters beneath the Tahya Masr bridge.

Protests are still ongoing. 

The suppression of the demonstration was the most violent to take place in recent months, as residents have repeatedly protested a security-enforced blockade restricting the delivery of construction materials to the Nile island. 

Similar security tactics were deployed during two campaigns undertaken by authorities to measure buildings in preparation for their confiscation and demolition, which were met with resistance by the residents.

The ban on materials reaching the island is the latest chapter in a tussle between residents and the state, which has sought for years to evict those living on the island in order to undertake urban development projects.