Six were arrested for allegedly being complicit in torching the Emirates National Bank of Dubai and American fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken in Haram, Giza Feb. 2 and Jan. 27, respectively, according to a Tuesday police statement.
Three others were arrested for allegedly partaking in the arson of cell phone operator Mobinil on Haram Street Feb. 11, the façade of the Commercial International Bank in the same area Nov. 11, and other arson incidents.
Engineering students Abdel Fatah Ateya, 20, his brother Omar, 22, and high school student Moataz Saeed, 17, allegedly confessed to have torched the façade of the Commercial International Bank on Haram Street Nov. 7 and other arson incidents.
Saeed suffered third-degree burns to the head, around the eyes, and hands, as he appreas in a police video. After extinguishing the fire of Mobinil, the police found the body of law student Ahmed Nasser, 21, inside the company with birdshot in his pocket. He died of burns inside the facility.
The so-called Giza Popular Resistance claimed responsibility for all the attacks on its Facebook page, embedding videos and pictures of the attacks. It did not, however, post a video of torching Mobinil. Saeed said in a video released by the Ministry of Interior that his “task” was to film the arson, but he caught on fire once he began to shoot.
The police statement said the defendants, who have allegedly confessed the names of other accomplices being traced, belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, although some of the defendants said they were paid to participate in the attacks.
For its part, Giza Popular Resistance claimed on Facebook Wednesday that it had executed 32 operations in seven days in 11 governorates, which include torching town councils police and public vehicles. It also claimed it has 1,000 “fedai’s,” guerillas willing to sacrifice their lives.
