24 hurt in Egyptian clashes

2010-03-13 08:00

Cairo - At least 24 people were injured in northern Egypt when fires were started and fighting broke out between Christians and Muslims on Friday, an official said on Saturday.

"Security was able to control fires that erupted in three homes and two cars," Ahmed Hussein, governor of the northern governorate of Marsa Matrouh, told state television. Relations between Egypt's Muslims and mainly Coptic Christians are usually calm but can become strained and sometimes erupt into violence over issues such as inter-faith relationships and land.

Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's roughly 78 million people. The rest are mostly Sunni Muslim.

- Reuters