Four devotees were martyred, including significant Egyptian cleric, Sheikh Hasan Shahata, on the hands of Salafists in Giza city, who attacked his house while he was commemorating the 15th of Shaaban.

Four devotees were martyred, including significant Egyptian cleric, Sheikh Hasan Shahata, on the hands of Salafists in Abu Mussalem, a village in the Egyptian city of Giza, who attacked his house while he was commemorating the 15th of Shaaban, which marked the birth anniversary of Imam Mahdi.

Brutal scenes of the crime were broadcast on the internet late Sunday, and showed men dragging Sheikh Shahata’s body, which was covered with blood, on the street and beating him while chanting “Allahu Akbar”, without any apparent attempt by any side to stop them.

Reports said that dozens of the devotees who attended Sheikh Shahata’s house for commemorating the holy day were also injured, and that children were among the casualties.

General Manager of Hawamdia Hospital in Giza, Dr. Khaled Hamza, was quoted by “Veto” news website as saying that “we received four bodies for Shiites, including Sheikh Hasan Shahata, after hundreds of citizens from Giza burned the house of the Shiite leader Sheikh Hasan Shahata,” and indicated that “the other bodies are still unknown”.

Dr. Hamza told "Veto" that “two of them died in the hospital due to their severe injuries, after they were beaten to death.”

He added that “Initial medical reports reveal that when Sheikh Hasan Shahata arrived to the hospital, he appeared to be slaughtered from his neck, in addition to several injuries around his body,” and pointed out that “the rest of the bodies had several injuries as well as skull fractures.”