Dozens Reportedly Killed in Egypt Protests
CAIRO — News reports say at least 70 people have been killed in Egypt where security forces are cracking down on protesters holding a "Day of Rage" in defiance of an interim government-imposed state of emergency.
Scattered clashes and skirmishes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and police broke out Friday after thousands of supporters of the group marched in several locations across Egypt.
Fierce fighting between demonstrators and military forces in Cairo's Ramses Square has left dozens of people dead. Military helicopters hovered overhead. Witnesses told al-Jazerra television that there was firing from the helicopters on demonstrators in the square.
Arab satellite channels showed Brotherhood supporters firing automatic weapons at targets beneath a main bridge in the Cairo district of Zamalek. Some witnesses said the protesters were firing at police while others said they were firing at residents of the area.
Retired Egyptian General Hossam Suweillam told al-Arabiya TV that the Brotherhood was “committing acts of terrorism,” saying that it has a “long history of violence.”
A top Islamic cleric delivered a Friday prayer sermon on state TV, calling on all Egyptians to eschew violence and for political leaders to sit down at the negotiating table:
He warned Egyptians against sectarian strife and asked them to refrain from bloodshed and of the taking of innocent lives.
Egyptian state media warned people to stay off the streets in Cairo as an operation to confront what it calls "terrorist elements" unfolds. Witnesses reported hearing crackles of gunfire in several areas of Cairo.
Arab satellite channels reported that at least a dozen police stations were attacked and police and army conscripts were killed in Cairo and several provincial cities.
Heba Morayef, an official with Human Rights Watch, said that the use of live ammunition by police was not acceptable and urged forces to use restraint.
Morayef urged police to take a number of steps to forestall further violence, especially against churches and Egypt's Christian minority, which were reportedly targeted this week by Brotherhood mobs.
“The other thing we want to see from the police is effective intervention to protect churches because over the last few days more than 30 churches were attacked around the country. And that is a clear obligation on the part of the police. They could have predicted that this would happen, that there would be a sectarian backlash in particular after weeks of sectarian discourse on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters from the two sit-ins,” he said.
An Egyptian satellite channel showed images of a church in Cairo's Shubra district being torched Friday evening, after a government curfew was to have gone into effect. There were no indications that the unrest would subside despite the curfew.
fuente. La Voz de América, http://www.voanews.com/content/egypts-muslim-brotherhood-calls-fresh-protests/1730147.html
Scattered clashes and skirmishes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and police broke out Friday after thousands of supporters of the group marched in several locations across Egypt.
Fierce fighting between demonstrators and military forces in Cairo's Ramses Square has left dozens of people dead. Military helicopters hovered overhead. Witnesses told al-Jazerra television that there was firing from the helicopters on demonstrators in the square.
Arab satellite channels showed Brotherhood supporters firing automatic weapons at targets beneath a main bridge in the Cairo district of Zamalek. Some witnesses said the protesters were firing at police while others said they were firing at residents of the area.
Retired Egyptian General Hossam Suweillam told al-Arabiya TV that the Brotherhood was “committing acts of terrorism,” saying that it has a “long history of violence.”
A top Islamic cleric delivered a Friday prayer sermon on state TV, calling on all Egyptians to eschew violence and for political leaders to sit down at the negotiating table:
He warned Egyptians against sectarian strife and asked them to refrain from bloodshed and of the taking of innocent lives.
Egyptian state media warned people to stay off the streets in Cairo as an operation to confront what it calls "terrorist elements" unfolds. Witnesses reported hearing crackles of gunfire in several areas of Cairo.
Arab satellite channels reported that at least a dozen police stations were attacked and police and army conscripts were killed in Cairo and several provincial cities.
Heba Morayef, an official with Human Rights Watch, said that the use of live ammunition by police was not acceptable and urged forces to use restraint.
Morayef urged police to take a number of steps to forestall further violence, especially against churches and Egypt's Christian minority, which were reportedly targeted this week by Brotherhood mobs.
“The other thing we want to see from the police is effective intervention to protect churches because over the last few days more than 30 churches were attacked around the country. And that is a clear obligation on the part of the police. They could have predicted that this would happen, that there would be a sectarian backlash in particular after weeks of sectarian discourse on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters from the two sit-ins,” he said.
An Egyptian satellite channel showed images of a church in Cairo's Shubra district being torched Friday evening, after a government curfew was to have gone into effect. There were no indications that the unrest would subside despite the curfew.
fuente. La Voz de América, http://www.voanews.com/content/egypts-muslim-brotherhood-calls-fresh-protests/1730147.html
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