By AFP

CAIRO: Two people were killed during clashes between residents of an Egyptian town close to the Libyan border and security forces, security officials told AFP on Wednesday.

Residents of Salloum in western Egypt on Tuesday night blocked the main motorway heading to Libya to protest security restrictions on cross-border traffic and increased tariffs for lorries.

The move prompted security forces to intervene, leading to clashes that left two dead and four people injured, officials said.

By Wednesday morning, dozens of Salloum residents again blocked the motorway to Libya, allowing access only to Libyan families returning home, the official said.

Egypt has been gripped by security related problems, protests and clashes since a popular uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak last year.