AT LEAST 50 people were killed in clashes between Islamists and police in Egypt yesterday, as thousands of the military’s supporters marked the anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
Loyalists of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, overthrown in a July military coup, tried to converge on a central Cairo square for the anniversary celebrations, when police confronted them.
At least 45 people were killed in Cairo and five south of the capital, while another 268 people were wounded across Egypt, senior health ministry official Ahmed al-Ansari told AFP.
He said that “majority of the deaths were caused by bullets and birdshots,” adding that the identities of the dead were being ascertained.
Yesterday’s death toll was the highest in clashes between Islamists and police since several days of violence starting on August 14 killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Islamists.
In central Cairo, police fired shots and tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters. AFP correspondents saw several suspected demonstrators being arrested and beaten.
An interior ministry statement said police arrested 423 protesters in Cairo, accusing them of vandalism and “firing live rounds and birdshot”.
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