Three women died in clashes between loyalists and opponents of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, medics said yesterday, despite warnings by the military that it would crackdown on violent protests.
“Three people were killed and seven others wounded by birdshot and stabbing attacks during clashes between Morsi supporters and his opponents,” Adel Said, a hospital official in the Nile Delta city of Mansura, told reporters.
A pro-Morsi protester injured in the clashes, speaking by telephone, said thousands of loyalists were marching through the city’s narrow streets when “thugs” attacked them with guns, knives and rocks.
Tensions are running high in Egypt more than two weeks after the army ousted the country’s first freely-elected president following massive protests calling for him to go.
Rival protests were staged in several cities on Friday, with tens of thousands rallying in Cairo to demand the Islamist leader’s reinstatement.
Before Friday’s demonstrations, the army warned that it would decisively confront any violent protesters.
Several thousand supporters of Morsi’s overthrow by the military descended on Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday evening, setting off fireworks and chanting pro-army slogans.
Earlier, a vast crowd gathered at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in the capital, where Morsi loyalists have camped out since the military overthrew him on July 3.
About 10,000 protesters then set off in the direction of an elite military compound, the scene of the deadliest violence since Morsi’s overthrow, carrying pictures of the deposed president and chanting slogans. However, they were blocked by soldiers and armored vehicles.
Smaller rallies took place elsewhere in Cairo and Egypt’s second city Alexandria after the Muslim Brotherhood had called for a day of protests dubbed “Breaking the Coup.”
Morsi has been held in custody since his ouster and other senior Brotherhood leaders have also been detained, prompting international concerns.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay summoned the Egyptian ambassador in Geneva, Switzerland, and requested information about those arrested in connection with the events of July 3, her spokesman said on Friday.
The US has refrained from saying Morsi was the victim of a coup, which would legally require Washington to freeze about US$1.5 billion in US military and economic aid to Cairo.
Another major challenge facing Egypt’s new government is the security situation in the restive Sinai Peninsula, which has been rocked by deadly violence in the past two weeks.
Two civilians were killed and one wounded on Friday when militants fired rockets at an army checkpoint in el-Arish, one of several attacks in the Mediterranean town which also left one soldier injured. The army launched a major offensive earlier this week against Islamist militants in north Sinai, where at least 15 police and soldiers have been killed since Morsi’s ouster, as well as seven civilians.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the