The ministry of interior issued a statement saying four people were killed in clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces in Ain Shams in east Cairo on Friday.
Morsi supporters in several areas around the country took part in demonstrations by Islamists opposing the recent decision of former Field Marshal Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to run in the upcoming presidential elections.
The ministry of interior said it arrested more than 100 throughout the day nationwide.
Ain Shams, a strong base for the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, has witnessed intense confrontations between the supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces in recent months.
A journalist from the independent Dostour newspaper, Mayada Ashraf, 22, was among the dead as she received a bullet covering the demonstrations in Ain Shams.
A Coptic woman, Mary George, was reportedely stabbed to death by pro-Morsi supporters in the same area.
According to the committee to protect journalists, prior to Ashraf’s death on Friday, nine journalists have been killed in Egypt since the popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.
Meanwhile, security forces have clashed in many governorates around the country on Friday with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The health ministry said a total of 17 injuries were reported nationwide.
Clashes took place in the working class district of Imbaba, Giza where police and demonstrators exchanged teargas and fireworks in street battles.
Security forces also dispersed protests in the Upper Egypt governorate of Fayoum.
In Cairo, security forces used tear gas near Maadi in south Cairo to disperse a protest of tens of supporters of the Brotherhood. Protestors chanted slogans against the police, the military, and El-Sisi.
Police also dispersed protests in the Helwan district, also in south Cairo, after Friday prayers.
In Damietta, in the northeast Delta, clashes between security forces and Brotherhood supporters were also reported. According to the Ministry of Health, four were reported injured in the clashes that took place in Damietta.
Local citizens in the central Delta governorate of Menoufiya dispersed a protest of Brotherhood supporters raising the Rabaa sign.
Police fired tear gas in the Upper Egypt Minya governorate on pro-Morsi protesters who were chanting slogans against the military. The protests took place soon after the Friday prayers in different mosques in the governorate.
Hundreds also protested in Egypt’s second largest city, Alexandria, facing dispersal with tear gas.
Meanwhile, many Al-Azhar students organised protests near the university dormitories in Cairo, requesting the release of all their detained colleagues who were arrested in recent demonstrations against the interim authorities.
The students were also protesting “the human rights violations” faced by their detained peers. They also chanted slogans against El-Sisi, the military, and the police.
The primary pro-Morsi coalition, the National Alliance in Support of Legitimacy, said El-Sisi’s recent announcement to run for presidency confirms that Morsi’s ouster last July was “a military coup.”
The group has called for protests on a regular basis since Morsi’s ouster, although the numbers of demonstrators have decreased significantly in recent months in the face of a crackdown by security forces.
El-Sisi ended months of speculation about his possible candidacy on Wednesday, saying that he was “answering the demands of Egyptians” by running. He nevertheless faces opposition from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest political grouping which has seen hundreds of leaders and members jailed since Morsi’s ouster in July.
Source : Ahram online
