Egyptian security forces arrest supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi at Nahda Square in Cairo. (Photograph: Rex/Engy Emad)Reporters on the ground in Cairo describe “pools of blood,” “near constant gunfire” and being targeted themselves by Egyptian security forces as violence gripped the city on Wednesday.
Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans against Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during clashes with Egyptian security forces in Cairo’s Mohandessin neighborhood, Egypt. (Photo: AP)
The number reported dead is fluctuating from “scores” to “hundreds” after the Egyptian military and security forces followed through with their threats to clear protest encampments set up by supporter of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Attacking the sit-in camps with bulldozers, tear gas, and live fire security forces were reported to have shot unarmed protests as they tried to escape behind barricades or flee.
Despite the well-known presence of children inside the encampments, the heavy-handedness of the raids were met with rage by the Morsi backers.
Agence France Presse and Reuters put the number at over forty people killed, but the Independent quotes members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the target of the violence, at several hundred with thousands wounded.
At least one field hospital near the Rabaa protest camp had been turned into a morgue, as the Independent’s correspondent Alastair Beach documents in this tweet [warning: graphic image].
According to Reuters:
[A witness] saw soldiers fire at protesters as they tried to enter the besieged Rabaa camp in solidarity with other Mursi supporters. At least 20 were shot in the legs. Television pictures showed security forces shooting from nearby rooftops.
“Tear gas (canisters) were falling from the sky like rain. There are no ambulances inside. They closed every entrance,” said protester Khaled Ahmed, 20, a university student wearing a hard hat with tears streaming down his face.
“There are women and children in there. God help them. This is a siege, a military attack on a civilian protest camp.”
A Reuters correspondent saw dozens of people lying in the street with bullet and birdshot wounds. Pools of blood were everywhere.
“At 7 a.m. they came. Helicopters from the top and bulldozers from below. They smashed through our walls. Police and soldiers, they fired tear gas at children,” said teacher Saleh Abdulaziz, 39, clutching a bleeding wound on his head.
“They continued to fire at protesters even when we begged them to stop.”
The Guardian is live-blogging here.
Twitter reports, including photos, from correspondents and witnesses on the ground in Cairo:
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Republished from: Common Dreams