Thousands of Egyptian Islamists protested across the country yesterday, sparking clashes that killed at least six people after police were authorized to use live fire.
Gunfire was heard at the sites of at least two demonstrations in the capital, witnesses said.
Security sources said five protesters loyal to ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi were shot dead in clashes with security forces in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia.
Photo: EPA
Violence was also reported elsewhere, with state media saying a policeman was killed in an armed attack on a Cairo checkpoint.
Security sources said clashes had broken out between Morsi loyalists and security forces in Tanta, north of the capital.
Marches were also reported in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, in Beni Sueif and Fayoum, south of Cairo and in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada.
“Down with military rule,” demonstrators chanted as they waved photos of Morsi and Egyptian flags.
Earlier, the army had deployed around Cairo, where streets were deserted ahead of what Morsi supporters dubbed a “Friday of anger.”
Soldiers manned roadblocks on major thoroughfares, closing off some of them with armored personnel carriers.
The demonstrations come after 578 people were killed on Wednesday in clashes in Cairo as police cleared two Morsi protest camps and elsewhere in the country, in Egypt’s bloodiest day in decades.
The Egyptian Ministry of the Interior gave orders on Thursday for police to use live fire if government buildings come under attack.
Residents of some areas formed their own roadblocks, checking identity papers and searching cars.
The international community expressed grave concern, with the president of the UN Security Council pleading for “maximum restraint” after an emergency meeting on Wednesday’s violence.
The EU said yesterday that top officials would hold an emergency meeting on the situation in Egypt, where the army-installed government has imposed a state of emergency and nighttime curfews.
Sporadic violence continued throughout the country in the form of attacks on security personnel, with 13 killed in the Sinai Peninsula in 24 hours.
Gehad al-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, announced yesterday’s marches on his Twitter account.
“Anti-coup rallies ... will depart from all mosques of Cairo and head towards Ramsis Square after [noon] prayer in ‘Friday of Anger,’” he wrote.
On Thursday, Tamarod, the protest group that organized opposition to Morsi’s rule, also urged Egyptians to take to the streets.
It said they should rally “to reject domestic terrorism and foreign interference.”
The international community expressed concern, with the EU announcing top representatives from all 28 member states would meet on Monday.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Egypt, calling for an end to the violence and “national reconciliation.”
US President Barack Obama said Washington was canceling a joint US-Egyptian military exercise.
However, despite scrapping the Bright Star exercise, which has been scheduled every two years since 1981, he stopped short of suspending Washington’s annual US$1.3 billion in aid.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese