A number of al-Khusūs residents (unnamed by the newspaper) relates that clashes erupted on Apr. 5 at one of the narrow alleys in al-Khusūs, in front of a house owned by the family of Iskandar (Christian family). Iskandar’s house is opposite to an Islamic religious institution. Someone draw a Swastika on the religious institution and four names: Sālih, Ahmad, Mustafá and Battah. When a number of children from the area tried to erase the paintings, a member of Iskandar’s family sprayed them with water from the balcony and fired two gunshots in the air. A number of people in the area assembled after hearing gunshots and an argument started between Iskandar’s family and people in the streets. Afterwards, a member of Iskandar’s family randomly shot towards the residents who assembled off their house, leaving two people injured and one dead.
Additionally, witnesses said that masked men attacked the Baptist Church parallel to the street that the incident took place. They threw Molotov cocktails at the Church. The Church front was burned. Then they set al-Mahabah Day Care and Marqus Pharmacy on fire (both Christian). Afterwards, they went to the street going to the Coptic Orthodox Saint George Church, which is two streets away from the clashes. They opened fire on people who are gathered in front of the Church, leaving four dead (Rānīyā Nabīl and Ahmad ‘Atif, al-Sabāh, Apr. 15, p. 9). Read original text in Arabic.