Egypt: Supporters of Ousted Morsi Shot in Cairo
Cairo---At least 40 people are believed to have died in a shooting incident in Egyptian capital, Cairo, in the ongoing unrest following depose of President Mohammed Morsi by the country’s army.
Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader was ousted last week in a military take-over following a wake of nationwide protests over worsening social and economic conditions.
His Muslim Brotherhood party says its members were fired on at a barracks in the eastern Nasr City district of the capital, where they believe he is being held. The supporters, who say the army had mounted a coup, were staging a sit-in demanding for Mr Morsi be reinstated back to power.
Egypt’s health ministry have put the record of those killed in the Monday morning violence at at least 40, while some 300 are said to be wounded. The Muslim Brotherhood puts the death toll at 53, saying the army had raided its sit-in as protesters performed the dawn prayers at about 04:00 (02:00 GMT).
However the army has blamed the shooting on “an armed terrorist group” that had tried to storm the barracks. One of the protesters had told the AFP news agency that troops had used teargas but that a group of men in civilian clothing had then opened fire.
"The thugs came from the side. We were the target," Mahmud al-Shilli, told AFP.
In a statement read on state media the army said it had arrested some 200 people who were found in possession of weapons, ammunition and petrol bombs. It said that two soldiers had been kidnapped by Morsi’s supporters but later managed to escape.
Brotherhood’s political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has called on Egyptians to stage an “uprising” against “those trying to steal their revolution with tanks.” It also urged "the international community and international groups and all the free people of the world to intervene to stop further massacres" and to stop Egypt becoming "a new Syria".
The new interim leader Adly Mansour, the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court who was sworn in on Thursday has pledged to hold elections soon, he is yet to give a date for fresh polls.
Following the violence, the extremist Salafist Nour party part of the opposition movement that rallied the anti-Morsi protests has said it was withdrawing from the talks to choose an interim Premier immediately in response to what it termed as massacre.
The party rejects appointment of two potential prime ministers over concerns of the shape of the new constitution.
The army took over power on Thursday last week over what it termed as failure by Morsi’s Islamist-led government to meet demands of the Egyptian people. The army had issued a 48-hour ultimatum on Monday requiring the government and its opponent to resolve the crisis or else it intervenes.