CAIRO
A number of low-rank policemen staged protests in several Egyptian provinces on Saturday to demand higher payments, medical insurance and personal arms against the background of a recent surge in attacks against security installations.
Demonstrations were staged by policemen in the Nile Delta provinces of Qalioubiya, Menoufiya, Gharbiya, Sharqiya and Kafr al-Sheikh and the central province of Beni Sueif, with some policemen closing the police headquarters in some areas to demand better salaries.
Some of the protesting policemen also called for purging the Interior Ministry of what they described as corruption.
"We have sought to make our voice heard through legitimate means, but we failed in doing this," Osama Said, a policeman from Menoufiya, told Anadolu Agency.
Policemen in the province of Gharbiya staged a strike and threatened to stage a sit-in inside police stations until the government gives them medical insurance and raises their salaries.
Other policemen demonstrated against the lack of personal defense arms against the backdrop of surging attacks against security installations.
Six low-rank policemen were killed by unidentified militants in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya in recent days.
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