人民网
Wed,Dec 25,2013
English>>World

Editor's Pick

Blast in Egypt poses challenge to political roadmap

By Marwa Yahya (Xinhua)    08:49, December 25, 2013
Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

CAIRO, Dec. 24 -- A powerful car bombing which hit Egypt's Nile Delta city of Mansoura in the early hours of Tuesday, raises concerns over the implementation of a future political roadmap in the country.

At least 14 people were killed and 130 others wounded, mostly policemen, in a huge explosion at security headquarters in the Daqahliya province, just weeks before a vote on a new draft constitution key to transition from military-backed interim government.

Making up his mind not to take part in any coming voting process, Adel el-Mesilhy, 44 years old, said "the security forces couldn't protect its personnel, so how they can protect us."

Mesilhy who is a security guard for Alexandria Bank told Xinhua "his family asked him several times to quit his job, as the bank located in a very dangerous area."

The city of 500,000 residents has been turned into target for terrorist operations as well as violent clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The same security building was ripped by a bomb attack in August, several days after dispersal of pro-Morsi protesters, leaving several casualties. In October, three policemen were killed during an attack by unknown militants who opened fire on a police checkpoint in Mansoura.

The impact of Tuesday explosion was felt around 15 kilometers away and shattered windows of nearby buildings and the housing compounds in the other side of the Nile River could be seen, Xinhua reporter said.

The wreckage of armored police vehicles stood nearby, and glasses and blood blanket the streets, he said, adding hundreds of people helped with rescue operation.

The entire city was in chaos, and streets were blocked with cars as people were hurrying to check on victims, and to donate blood in the hospitals, the reporter added.

"The blast wounded my only daughter," Hiwayda Abdel-Alem, 32 years old, at Mansoura Emergency Hospital told Xinhua.

I waited for my seven-years-old girl to get out from the surgery room, Hiwayda said, adding that her daughter was staying with her uncle in his clothes store behind the damaged bank when the explosion occurred.

She said her brother was also critically wounded, but yet she couldn't check on him, as she is busy following up her young child.

Outside the security headquarters, dozens of people chanted slogans for supporting the army, raising pictures of the Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Meanwhile, kamal Abdel Meguid, a man in his 30s, whose nearby three mobile stores have been completely destroyed, vented his anger on the government, "the army should deal with Morsi's supporters with reason to avoid the country falling in terrorism."

I don't acknowledge the army-installed interim government roadmap, which couldn't protect people, Meguid told Xinhua.

In Abbasy street, full of electronic shops, hotels, and dozens of vendors who display their goods on the pavements, which located behind the security building, people are cleaning the remains of the accident, while some others raised placards blaming Brotherhood for the blast.

"Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist group," "Down with Islamist' s rule," read the banners.

Following the explosion, thugs broke into several shops, stole goods of the big flourished market.

"Only when Morsi's loyalists stop their daily protests, the country could live in peace," Alaa Hakeem, a 33 year teacher who volunteered with others in cleaning the surrounding streets said.

Many of my neighbors are belonging to Brotherhood, and they are moderate people, but the protests and violence created a state of division and hatred in the society, Hakeem added, noting "the dialogue is the solution to get the country out of a dark tunnel of civil conflicts."

Pro-Morsi alliance announced its boycott for the constitutional referendum slated amid January, while urging people to gather outside the voting centers for peaceful protests.

While the county is moving in steady steps towards parliamentary and presidential elections, the second step following the nation's plebiscite, experts raised concerns over violent protests might hinder the turnout.

Ambassador Hany Salah, spokesman of the interim government told Xinhua on Tuesday "the interim cabinet studies the Brotherhood's status politically and legally."

There will not be reluctance with people threatening the national security, he added.

As fingers were pointed to the Brotherhood as responsible for the explosion, the banned group condemned the bombing and urged the authorities for fair investigations to find the real perpetrators.

(Editor:ZhangQian、Yao Chun)

Related reading

We Recommend

Most Viewed

Day|Week|Month

Key Words

Links