Al-Minya

Two nights ago (August 4) 17 people got wounded during clashes erupted among Muslims and Copts in the village of Banī ‘Āhmad al-Sharqīa al-Tābi’a and that extended to the village of Rīda, both in the governorate of al-Minya. Eyewitnesses reported that the events broke out because of a dispute between two boys, a Muslim and a Copt, in a café run by a Copt, due to a TV-channel broadcast of the pro-army song “Bless the hands” (Tislam al-āiādī), that enraged the deposed president’s supporters. They attacked the café and destroyed its contents. Several Muslims also blocked the railway lines and the Egypt-Aswan Agricultural Road that brought transportation to northern and southern Upper Egypt to a halt for more than 5 hours.