The Muslim Brotherhood has announced that nationwide protests in support of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi would continue on Saturday and Sunday, following a day of mass rival demonstrations which turned deadly.
Egypt’s health ministry on Saturday said at least 70 people were killed and 1000 wounded in overnight clashes between security forces and supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo.
Earlier, the Brotherhood said at least 31 people were killed on Saturday when the security forces attacked a protest by Morsi supporters.
The move to continue protesting defies the Egyptian army’s deadline which gives the Muslim Brotherhood until Saturday afternoon to sign up to the country’s military-backed process.
On Friday, hundreds of thousands of pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators took to the streets of several cities and towns across Egypt.
“They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill,” Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters news agency, adding that demonstrators had been hit by gunshot in the head and chest.
The Brotherhood said earlier at least 23 had died in the violence.
At least 175 other people had been wounded with gunshot, he added. The toll could not immediately be verified. The casualties had all been taking part in the rally, he added.
Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed when rival demonstrators clashed in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, AFP news agency reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Egyptian authorities announced they will bring pro-Morsi sit-in protests “to an end soon and in a legal manner”, interim Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim was quoted as saying by state-run news website al-Ahram.
Ibrahim said the protests would be cleared in line with complaints filed by residents in the area, according to Reuters.
Supporters of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood have been manning two main vigils in the capital for a month, demanding Morsi be reinstated after his July 3 overthrow by the army.
Source: Al Arabiya, AFP, and Reuters
