Egyptian clashes with police on December 20, 2013. The protesters were opposing the military-backed regime in Cairo., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Security forces clash with pro-Morsi protesters in Cairo, Suez
Ahram Online , Friday 20 Dec 2013
Teargas fired by security forces in Haram, Mohandiseen and Nasr City; police station set on fire in Suez
Several protests organised by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi took place in Cairo following Friday afternoon prayers. Demonstrations took place in Nasr City, Haram, Mohandiseen, Zeitoun, and Helwan, some of which turned into clashes.
Cairo's Nasr City witnessed violent clashes after security forces fired teargas at protesters to stop them from reaching Makram Ebeid Street, a main thoroughfare, according to Al-Ahram’s Arabic website. Injuries have been reported.
Giza's Mohandiseen district also witnessed violent clashes in the vicinity of Ahmed Orabi Street after security forces fired teargas at a pro-Morsi protest in the area. A police car was reportedly set on fire.
Security forces also fired teargas at a protest by supporters of Morsi as they marched through the district of Haram in Giza.
Demonstrators were on their way from Khatem Al-Morsaleen Mosque to Giza's Haram Street when the gas was fired. They were dispersed and took refuge in side streets, reported MENA state news agency.
As clashes continued in the district of Haram, traffic in nearby streets witnessed total paralysis.
The protesters threw stones against security troops and set fire to vehicles' tyres. In response, the troops fired teargas in a bid to control the situation and arrest the rioters.
Later in the day, clashes erupted in the town of Kafr Al-Dawar in Beheira governorate in the Nile Delta, after a protest march voicing rejection of the draft constitution locked horns with civilian opponents.
Al-Ahram's Arabic website reported that residents chased away the protesters, while batons and rocks were used in the melee resulting in injuries. Police eventually stepped in to contain the situation and arrested several people.
In Suez, clashes also took place, and a police station that was closed for maintenance was set ablaze before firefighters put out the flames.
The ambulance authority in Suez said that three protesters were hospitalised, including one who was shot in head. At least six were arrested from the pro-Morsi camp, including a woman.
The Ministry of Interior has announced the arrest of 85 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in eight governorates in relation to the day's violence.
Morsi supporters, led by an "anti-coup" Islamist coalition, had called for protests on Friday against the trial of Morsi on charges of espionage.
Morsi will stand trial over allegations he collaborated with Hamas, Hezbollah and other organisations to commit terrorist acts in Egypt, a judicial source revealed on Wednesday.
Morsi is already on trial on charges of killing opposition protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.
Morsi supporters have been taking to the streets since his ouster on 3 July demanding his reinstatement. Their mobilisation has diminished however since a major security crackdown saw thousands of sympathisers arrested.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/89623.aspx
2 Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai operation; riot police clash with Islamist protesters
By ASHRAF SWEILAM Associated Press
December 20, 2013 - 1:03 pm EST
EL-ARISH, Egypt — Egyptian troops fought al-Qaida-inspired militants Friday in the northern Sinai Peninsula, with Islamic extremists parading the corpse of one of two soldiers killed through the streets while it hung from a pole, a security official and witnesses said.
The militants fired celebratory gunfire in a village bordering the Gaza Strip around the displayed corpse, showing the challenge Egypt's government faces in putting down the insurgency that flourished after a July 3 military coup toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
The Sinai clash flared after troops backed by armored vehicles swept through a village called el-Mahdiya. The operation targeted three of the most-wanted Ansar Jerusalem militants, including Shadi el-Manaei, a suspected mastermind of previous attacks, the official said.
The fighting killed two soldiers and wounded eight, the official said. Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, a military spokesman, confirmed the killings in a Facebook post and said soldiers killed three "terrorists" in the operation.
Amid the fighting, militants seized one of the soldiers' corpses, hung it from the pole and drove it to a village called Nagaa Shabana in celebration, witnesses and the official said.
Ali said troops came under fire "from all directions" and that attack helicopters were sent to "deal with the targets," without elaborating.
The security official said that the militants later dumped the body of the soldier outside a mosque in a village called al-Mokatta, where the military retrieved it.
Ansar Jerusalem, like other Sinai-based al-Qaida-inspired groups, has been blamed for rising attacks against Egypt's military and police since a July 3 military coup toppled Morsi.
The group claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing targeting Egypt's interior minister in September, an attack he escaped from unharmed. Scores of Egyptian police officers and soldiers have been killed in attacks by suspected Islamic militants since the coup.
Elsewhere in the country, authorities fired tear gas to disperse scattered protests by rock-throwing supporters of Morsi and opponents of the military-backed interim government.
In Cairo, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and Suez in eastern Egypt, Morsi supporters marched after Friday prayers and chanted against the military under the slogan "Our 2012 Constitution" — referring to the suspended charter drafted under Morsi that has been extensively amended after his ouster. The interim government has set Jan. 14-15 for a public vote on the amended constitution.
The vote will be the first real test of Egypt's interim government, which hopes for a comfortable majority to enshrine its legitimacy. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood says it will boycott the vote and is calling on its followers to take to the streets during the two-day referendum.
In a statement Friday, the Brotherhood-led alliance said that the protests are the beginning of a week of protests. It called the upcoming vote on the constitution "a betrayal of the revolution's martyrs."
A security official said more than 40 people were arrested across the country Friday over the protests. He said that five officers and three soldiers were injured by birdshot during the clashes. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
In Suez, protester Abdel Rahman Saad said that demonstrators including women came under attack by military and police vehicles firing live ammunition and birdshot. It was not possible to verify his account. The Interior Ministry has denied using live ammunition to disperse protests.
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