Over 100 People Killed On Egypt's "Day of Rage"
By Countercurrents.org
17 August, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Violence erupted across Egypt again on Friday after the Brotherhood and other groups, under the banner of the Anti-Coup Alliance, called for protests in defiance of a military crackdown on sit-in demonstrations that left hundreds dead on August 14. In the worst of Friday's violence, at least 95 people were killed and hundreds injured in Cairo's Ramses Square as anti-coup protesters were fired on by government forces.
Eye witnesses said crowds were shot at by snipers and by men in helicopters. "Helicopters started to shoot us as we were walking. Not bombs this time, it was bullets. My friend took a shot in the neck and he died," he said. "This was the first time we saw helicopters shooting. There were people shooting from the windows."
Egyptian police arrested over 1,000 alleged supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout the day, the interior ministry said in a statement, including 558 in Cairo alone.
Early on Saturday morning, a tense stand-off continued at the Al-Fath mosque.
An interim cabinet, installed by the army after it removed Morsi during rallies against his rule, has refused to back down in the face of the protests. It has authorised police to use live ammunition to defend themselves and state installations.
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Meanwhile the Muslim Brotherhood has called for a week of protests across Egypt to start a day after more than 100 people were killed when security forces fired on protesters staging a "day of rage" against the military-led government.
Media reports on Egypt said:
Egyptian security forces were trying to persuade Morsi supporters to leave a Cairo mosque the security forces surrounded earlier. Nearly 1,000 people were trapped in the mosque
The tense stand-off at the Al-Fath mosque came after bloody clashes.
It was reported that more than 1,000 Morsi supporters have been arrested. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said that 5 machine guns, 15 firearms, 7 hand grenades, and 710 bullets were found in their possession. The suspects were arrested in several Egyptian cities, including 43 in Alexandria , 22 in Kafr al-Sheikh, 12 in Suez and 15 in Ismailia .
The Islamist protesters were demanding they not be arrested, or attacked.
Security officials quoted by the official MENA news agency said that "armed elements" had been shooting at security forces and police from inside the mosque.
It was not possible to verify the numbers in the mosque independently.
Elsewhere in Egypt , 10 people were killed by security forces and dozens injured in the canal city of Suez when they gathered to protest in defiance of the curfew.
Marches were also reported in Alexandria , Beni Sueif and Fayyum, and Hurghada. The demonstrations ended shortly after a night-time curfew came into effect.
It was announced that the Islamists would hold "daily anti-coup rallies".
The Egyptian cabinet in a statement said it was confronting a "terrorist plot." "The cabinet affirms that the government, the armed forces, the police and the great people of Egypt are united in confronting the malicious terrorist plot by the Muslim Brotherhood," it said.
French president Francois Hollande discussed the crisis with counterparts in London , Berlin and Rome .
Germany said it would review ties with Cairo .
Amnesty International called for a full and impartial investigation into the bloodshed.
However, Saudi Arabia and Jordan said they backed Egypt 's fight against "terrorism".
The Egyptian army said it had arrested 60 members of "armed groups" accusing them of involvement in "terrorist acts" and sabotage of public facilities in several district of the capital Cairo . In a statement, the army accused "militant groups" of setting a building in Cairo 's Ramses Square ablaze and continuing to fire live ammunition from inside al-Fath Mosque, located inside the square.
But a Muslim Brotherhood member described the accusations as "fabricated".
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