Clashes between protesters supporting ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, security forces, and local residents in Cairo and Alexandria broke out on Friday afternoon.
In Cairo’s northeastern Ain Shams district, residents and protesters clashed after the former attacked a demonstration. Molotov cocktails, birdshot and fireworks were used in the clashes, according to Egyptian state radio.
Similar violence occurred in Giza’s Faisal district. Both clashes led to fires in residential buildings.
Clashes between protesters and police also occurred in Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria, leading to the arrest of five Muslim Brotherhood members, state radio reported.
Another pro-Morsi rally in the Upper Egyptian city of Fayoum was dispersed by security forces, according to Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website.
No injuries have yet been reported from the day’s events.
Pro-Morsi protests have become smaller and less frequent after months of a security crackdown on Morsi supporters and the Muslim Brotherhood, which was declared a terrorist group by the Egyptian government in December.
The majority of the Brotherhood’s leadership are behind bars and efforts to arrest others have gone regional, with Saudi Arabia arresting two top Brotherhood figures this week.
The Muslim Brotherhood-led National Alliance in Support of Legitimacy has however called for a new protest wave starting 19 March.
The Brotherhood have so far refused to recognise a transitional roadmap put in place by interim authorities after Morsi’s ouster. The former president is now being tried for murder and espionage.
Source : Ahram online
