Nine new suspects have been arrested for their alleged parts in violence in Giza's Kerdasa which left 11 police officers dead on 14 August. 

One hundred and forty-four suspects have now been arrested there.

According to investigations, some of the suspects helped prisoners escape from Kerdasa police station, burned it down and assaulted policemen and incited their killings.

Public prosecutors also seized a van in which suspects carried the body of Kerdasa police chief Colonel Mohamed Gabr and toured the area before mutilating his body.

The prosecution also received video footage showing the killing of Major General Nabil Farrag from a private satellite channel. The video shows a man firing at Farrag from an automatic gun while sitting inside a tok-tok. The footage confirms the results reached by medical examiners who said Farrag received a deadly shot from a distance no longer than 10 to 20 meters. The prosecution has ordered the arrest of the shooter who appears in the video.

Investigations also revealed that the van was found in the village of Kombara, close to Kerdasa, and the prosecution has summoned its owner. The van toured the villages of Nahya and Kerdasa for three hours and stopped at the homes of a woman who beat the dead body and another man, who also beat the dead body. The son of this man is said to have been killed in the dispersal of the sit-ins in al-Nahda Square. The man was also summoned.

The prosecution has also summoned another man who was on the van along with 13 others and seized another car which is owned by an alleged jihadi.

Regarding the burning of churches in Kerdasa, investigations showed that after the suspects assaulted the Kerdasa police officers and mutilated their bodies, some men carried sticks, guns and Molotov cocktails to burn two churches in revenge against Pope Tawadros who supported the removal of ousted President Mohamed Morsy. The suspects scribbled words on the walls of the churches suggesting the same.

The suspects face several charges including killing, joining a terrorist group, possessing firearms and ammunition, intimidating citizens, undermining security, sparking sectarianism and covering up for wanted criminals.

Some suspects also face charges of burning churches.

All the suspects reportedly denied the charges.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm