10 Dead, 3 Hurt in Central Egypt Family Feud

Ten people were killed in a feud between two families who went on a shooting rampage in a town of central Egypt on Saturday, security officials said.

The violence in the El-Badari area of Assiut province pitted members of the El-Shaieba and El-Aawashir families.

It started when a senior El-Aawashir member was shot dead along with a relative and another man in an ambush by the rival family members, a senior police officer from Assiut, Hassan Seif, told Agence France Presse.

Seif said when reports of the killings spread, angry members of El-Aawashir went on a rampage, shooting at El-Shaieba members, resulting in seven more deaths.

Three others were wounded in the fighting.

Security officials said the El-Shaieba members carried out the initial ambush to avenge the death of a relative last year whose killing was blamed on the El-Aawashirs.

The area where the fighting broke out was sealed off by security forces, Seif said.

With a deeply tribal society and easy access to firearms, southern and central Egypt are often the scene of deadly feuds, sometimes resolved by local reconciliation.