Packs of Egyptian men roam the streets armed with knives and swords, ready to strike at a moment’s notice — and those are the good guys.
“It’s absolute chaos; there’s no security at all,” a 29-year-old Cairo man told The Post by telephone.
After days of political unrest, increasing violence in the streets, and a rising body count, ordinary Egyptians are arming themselves to defend against the gangs roaming the streets.
They’re also forming vigilante groups to protect banks and important buildings abandoned by police.
“There is no civil service here. We are trying to build it from scratch,” said the man, whose high-school pal from New Jersey has been in regular contact to check on his well-being. “Every single building has its own residents patrolling the entrance with guns.”
The man, who asked that his name and occupation be withheld for fear of execution, said looters are going from house to house.
“I think [the looters] are government thugs, that’s the most logical explanation,” he said, adding that he thought the regime of President Hosni Mubarak “destroyed their own property to show that, in a country like Egypt, you need a firm hand. Otherwise there’s chaos.”
“I don’t care who takes his place as long as the people choose. It’s the system that needs to change.”
Conditions were similar in Alexandria as one 22-year-old woman with relatives in Queens said the army was no help in curbing the lawlessness.
“The army is just standing there doing nothing,” she said. “The citizens are doing everything, they are defending themselves, their houses, the banks. The people are catching the thieves in the streets and beating them.”
That tense environment is what had Port Jefferson, LI, resident Jim Burke on edge last night as his 20-year-old daughter, Kyleen, scrambled to make it out of Cairo with her college group.
“It’s very nerve-racking,” said Burke, whose brother, NYPD Capt. William Burke, was killed on 9/11.
“I just want to get her out of the situation she’s in as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, about 1,200 people rallied near the United Nations yesterday demanding that Mubarak step down.