A security source in Minya, Upper Egypt, has affirmed that Ali Hussien Ali, 34, commonly known by the dread name of Holako, died this afternoon during a fight between his gang and the Copts of the Minya village of Ezbet Awlad Marzouq.
A security source in Minya, Upper Egypt, has affirmed that Ali Hussien Ali, 34, commonly known by the dread name of Holako, died this afternoon during a fight between his gang and the Copts of the Minya village of Ezbet Awlad Marzouq.
The same security source, who asked for his name to be withheld, said Holako’s body was in the Malawi morgue awaiting the prosecution’s burial permit.
A vicious fight with firearms had erupted at noon today in Ezbet Awlad Marzouq between the Marzouq clan and the Holako gang when the gang caught a young woman, Hayam Zaky Zahran, who belonged to the Marzouq household. In the fight that ensued, Ibrahim Marzouq, 60, Ephraim Ibrahim Marzouq, 22, and his brother Ayman died. Younan Morqos Marzouq and his father Morqos Marzouq are seriously injured and have been moved to Assiut public hospital.
The village is now under heightened security for fear of the surviving members of the Holako gang, who might wage other attacks against the village in revenge.
Holako and his gang have been the scourge of the Minya countryside since the breakdown in security that followed the 25 January 2011 Revolution. Holako’s brother Hashim Hussein Ali, known as the mastermind behind the gang’s horror crimes, was caught last month by the police, but Holako had managed to escape.
The gang especially targeted the Copts in Minya villages since the security authorities offered them no protection, so they were easy prey. The Alis and their gang had turned the life of the Copts of the village of Badraman into a living hell with beatings, rape, kidnappings, arson, tribute money, and seizure of land and property. Many Copts fled their homes and livelihoods, and were forced to relocate elsewhere for fear of Holako’s savagery.
WATANI International
14 October 2012
