Thousands of Egyptian Bedouin demonstrated Friday in the northern Sinai Peninsula to protest police brutality and demand better treatment by the government, security officials said.

Trucks loaded with thousands of Bedouin, many of them carrying machine guns, passed through streets in this desert town and nearby villages, said the officials.

They made various demands including freeing some of their tribesmen, said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

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Egyptian authorities have blamed Bedouin for aiding terrorists who have carried out a series of deadly attacks in recent years on the Sinai resort towns of Sharm el-Sheik, Taba and Dahab that have killed 125 people.

In response to the attacks, officials rounded up thousands of locals, a move that has intensified the Bedouin's feelings of mistreatment.

Tensions flared in April when two Bedouin died in clashes with police. The deaths triggered an anti-government protest near the Israeli border by more than 1,000 Bedouin, who complained of police brutality.