Clashes, which broke out on Friday in the Greater Cairo area after protests took place in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, left 26 injured, according to health ministry spokesperson Ahmed Kamel. Eighteen of the injured remain in hospital for treatment, Kamel added.
In north-eastern Cairo’s Matariya district, anti-government protesters marched near Tawfik mosque, chanting against the armed forces and holding signs evoking Rabaa Al-Adawiya, the site of a deadly crackdown on Morsi supporters by security forces last summer.
According to Al-Ahram Arabic website, locals fired weapons at the march to disperse the protesters after the chants grew increasingly offensive to the army.
The pro-Brotherhood supporters reportedly responded to the gunfire by throwing Molotov cocktails at nearby houses, setting a number of them on fire.
The locals then physically attacked the protesters, dispersing the march. Fire engines arrived at the scene and extinguished the fires.
Al-Mataryia metro station was subsequently shut down as clashes erupted between police and pro-Morsi protesters.
Abdullah Fawzy, Chairman of the Metro’s management and operation, told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that the closure came after some of the trees in front of the station caught fire.
On Saturday, the third anniversary of 2011 revolution, 26 people were shot in Matariya when the police violently dispersed a pro-Morsi demonstration. A total of 64 people were killed in Cairo and Giza on the same day.
In nearby Ain Shams, police faced off with around 300 Morsi supporters on Friday as the latter attempted to block 6 October Street. Shops were closed and locals intervened to disperse the demonstration, reported Al-Ahram.
A source from the ministry of interior’s media centre told Al-Ahram that violent clashes also erupted in Al-Naeam square in Ain Shams between Brotherhood members and other locals.
Firearms and birdshots were used in the fighting, said the source adding that central security forces have been sent to the scene to put an end to the clashes.
The clashes broke out after tens of protesters reportedly started to sit-up their tents in an attempt to hold a sit-in.
Later, security forces fired teargas to disperse the protesters, reported Al-Ahram.
In the Haram area in Giza, police restored peace in the Talbiya area after dozens of Morsi supporters blocked the roads by setting car tyres ablaze.
Friday’s protests were called for by the pro-Morsi National Alliance to Support Legitimacy.
Police also dispersed other pro-Morsi protests in Cairo’s Nasr City and Masr Al-Qadima.
Source : Ahram Online
