Egypt's mystery of the Port Said snipers

Local people in Port Said alerted euronews correspondent Mohammed Shaikhibrahim to the presence of a nearby sniper. There was much pointing and shouting as attention was drawn to a building further down the street, where the sound of shooting was clearly coming from. An orange ambulance did a U-turn; it was believed to be evacuating someone who had just been wounded. It was claimed that minutes beforehand, four civilians were injured by the sniper’s bullets. “There are snipers,” cried one man, in an agitated state. “They’re killing people.” Others pointed out what appeared to be spent cartridges lying on the ground. A closer look enabled a barred window in a low-rise building to be singled out. A figure could be seen peering out. He was wearing a black mask, what looked like a camouflaged vest – and appeared to be holding a gun as he scanned the street outside. The man’s presence raises more questions that it answers. Who was he: police, army, some kind of militant? Our correspondent – who was taken to see more damage apparently caused by a sniper – says Egypt’s military have not intervened in the violence; rather they have been protecting buildings important to the state, such as banks, government offices and power stations. By late Monday, the death toll in recent violence in Port Said rose to at least 42 dead and over 1,000 wounded, according to medical sources in the city.