Deadly clashes erupt in Egypt provinces. [View all]

[another_liberal]

Source: Al Jazeera

Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, angry over a security crackdown on sit-ins in Cairo, have clashed with security forces in several provinces besides the capital. Protests and clashes were reported in Ismailia, Alexandria, Suez, Assiyut and numerous other places on Wednesday. The violence raged on even after the cabinet declared curfew in a number of provinces: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiyut, Sohag, Behairah, North Sinai, South Sinai, Suez and Ismailia.

The official Middle East News Agency said the curfew would be enforced simultaneously with the month-long state of emergency, from 7pm till 6am, pending further notification. The Health Ministry said 149 people were killed as a result of Wednesday's violence and another 1,403 people were injured as police stations, government buildings and Coptic Christian churches came under attack or were set ablaze by protesters. Reuters news agency reported quoting medical sources that 15 people were killed in Ismailia in clashes between Morsi supporters and the police. The Health Ministry said 35 people were killed in Fayoum, southwest of Cairo, in clashes with security forces, while another five people were killed in Suez after protesters tried to storm a provincial government office.

Ministry said several police cars were burned in Beni Suef, a province south of Cairo, and that protesters also set fire to the courthouse. Police fired tear gas in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya in clashes with protesters outside of a mosque. In Aswan, in southern Egypt, hundreds of pro-Morsi demonstrators attacked the local government offices, throwing stones and attempting to break in, according to local media. Local media reported that the main Coptic Christian church in Sohag, in southern Egypt, was burned, and a church in Minya was also set on fire.There has been a great deal of sectarian rhetoric directed at Copts in recent weeks during pro-Morsi protests, leading to several incidents of churches burned and Christian-owned businesses attacked. The Health Ministry said at least 10 people were killed in violence in Alexandria. Hundreds of angry Morsi supporters marched through Egypt's second city, rioting and armed with wooden clubs, an AFP reporter said. Chanting "Morsi is my president", the protesters set fire to car tyres and tore down pictures of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief who was behind the Morsi's July 3 overthrow. At one cafe where Sisi's picture was hanging, they smashed the doors and beat up the patrons as they shouted "Sisi is a killer".

In the Ibrahimiya district, they stormed a police station and looted furniture and equipment inside, an AFP reporter said. Earlier, in another part of Alexandria, tear-gas canisters rained down on a pro-Morsi march in the Sharq neighbourhood, amid repeated bursts of automatic gunfire. Hundreds of Morsi loyalists had marched through the city when police fired tear gas to disperse them. Residents, armed with clubs, came out of their homes and shops to help the police, detaining Morsi supporters and handing them over to officers at Sharq police station. Morsi supporters, carrying Egyptian flags and pictures of the deposed leader, then clashed with his opponents on a road carpeted with rocks.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/08/20138147553170355.html

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I doubt if this is what the generals and their wealthy backers wanted or expected. Now they can try to suppress a nation-wide backlash against their Jackboot tactics. Let's hope they soon face justice for what they have done and what they have caused to happen.