ISF Says 2 Republican Guards Held after Assaulting Traffic Policeman

Two soldiers from the army's Republican Guard Brigade on Friday beat up a traffic policeman from the Internal Security Forces as he was performing his traffic control duties, the ISF said in a statement.

ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous contacted Republican Guard chief Brig. Gen. Wadih al-Ghafari in the wake of the incident as the Army Command launched a probe into the case, the ISF added.

“Two republican guards have since been detained and a joint investigation will be conducted later by the army and the ISF,” it said.

Explaining what happened, the ISF said a police corporal was organizing traffic at the La Galerie Semaan intersection when a Republican Guard patrol crossed the red lights and one of its members got out of his vehicle to facilitate the patrol's movement during a traffic jam in the area.

“An altercation erupted between the patrol and the corporal at that point, which prompted some of the soldiers to beat him up and cause him bruises,” the ISF added.

“He received treatment at one of the hospitals and was discharged on the same day,” it said.

Y.R.