The families of 10 young men killed recently in the governorate of north Sinai are demanding an investigation into the deaths, rejecting the government's claim that the 10 were members of a terrorist group who died in a shootout with security forces.
The el-Arish families say many of the dead had actually been abducted by the government — in some cases months ago — and the government is trying to cover up the Interior Ministry's complicity in their forced disappearances and deaths.
The Interior Ministry announced the deaths Jan. 13, claiming the young men were with Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (Wilayat Sinai), a terrorist group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS). The ministry’s statement said the men had opened fire on security forces as they neared the men’s hideout in a house in el-Arish. The ministry said the group previously had killed eight policemen in two attacks on security checkpoints in el-Arish.
The families met Jan. 14 and released a statement saying they refused to meet with the interior minister and demanding that northern Sinai parliament members resign. They also demanded the immediate release of people who have been detained or forcibly disappeared, saying the government can't be trusted. The families also want to know "the fate of the bodies of our children" and threatened to escalate the situation by calling for civil disobedience.
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