Egypt protests claim 18 lives on revolution anniversary
The death toll from clashes between police and anti-government protesters in Egypt has risen to 18, as demonstrations go into a spiral of violence in the midst of the fourth anniversary of the ouster of US-backed dictator Hosni Mobarak.
According to the health ministry’s latest reports, there were three police officers among the dead across the country, the Egyptian daily al-Ahram reported on Sunday.
The latest report added two more cops to the casualties. They were killed by unknown assailants in the city of Giza located some 20 kilometers southwest of Cairo.
Another protester was also killed elsewhere in the capital.
Two others died when a bomb detonated in the coastal governorate of Beheira.
Previously, officials had confirmed the deaths of 13 people, including nine in the eastern al-Matariyyah district of the capital, one police officer in scuffles between security forces and demonstrators, and two protesters in Cairo’s Ain Shams and Haram neighborhoods.
Al-Matariyyah district has been the scene of clashes between pro-Mohamed Morsi protesters and police.
A protester was also killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Egypt’s second largest and coastal city of Alexandria, as people took to the streets in a protest called by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood political party.
The deaths came a day after a 32-year-old female demonstrator, identified as Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, died of birdshot wounds in clashes with police during a protest in Cairo’s central Talaat Harb Square.
Scores of civilians have also been injured and as many as 150 were arrested on Sunday across the country.
Police fired shotguns and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who tried to march towards Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
The 2011 revolution, which began on January 25, led to the overthrow of Mubarak. In an election after Mubarak’s ouster, Brotherhood-backed Mohamed Morsi was elected president.
Morsi was later ousted in a military coup led by former military chief and current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July 2013.
The Egyptian government has been cracking down on any opposition since Morsi was ousted, and Sisi has been accused of leading the suppression of Morsi supporters, as hundreds of them have been killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces over the past year.
HJM/NT/AS
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