Cairo, December 16: Nearly two dozen people, including 17 police, were hurt in a suburb of Cairo on Tuesday during clashes over homes due for demolition because they were built without permits, an official said.
The trouble began when officials arrived in Ezbet el-Haggana, northeast of the capital, to carry out demolition orders on 28 buildings constructed years ago without permission, police and witnesses said.
Protesters responded by hurling stones at them. In the melee, 17 policemen were injured by rocks and six people from the neighbourhood were hurt beaten and hurt by police.
The officials, from the Cairo regional government, sought refuge in the local police station before it was then attacked.
It was only after the intervention of MPs from the ruling National Democratic Party, promising that the demolition orders would be canceled, that the functionaries were able to leave the police station in safety.
Hundreds of people claim that they invested their life savings in apartments built in Ezbet el-Haggana.
—Agencies