Egypt unrest: At least 70 supporters or Mohamed Morsi killed by security ... - The Independent

Egypt's troubled transition reached a new nadir of bloodletting today when at least 70 supporters of toppled President Mohamed Morsi were gunned down during a sustained attack by the security services – three weeks after the army committed a similar massacre in nearly exactly the same spot. Doctors at the scene said they believed more than 100 people may have been killed. An exact tally has not yet been confirmed, but the massacre ranks as one of the worst single incidents of violence since the fall of Hosni Mubarak two and a half years ago. Clashes continued this morning as police squared off against thousands of protesters close to Nasr City, a suburb of eastern Cairo. Members of the central security forces, some clenching automatic rifles and wearing black face masks, fired bursts of gunfire at protesters who have been camping out near Nasr City throughout the month. Supporters of Mr Morsi – who are demanding the former Egyptian leader be reinstated following the popular coup orchestrated just over three weeks ago – cowered behind makeshift brick barricades as bullets fizzed overhead. Others ducked behind cars as live fire crackled in their direction. In a field clinic about one and a half miles away, doctors struggled to cope with the rapid influx of dead and wounded. Patients who had been shot with live rounds lay on the grubby, blood-stained floor as medics dressed their wounds. Elsewhere, as more and more victims were hurried in on stretchers, surgeons carried out emergency operations or stitched up the wounds of gravely ill demonstrators. Eventually staff were forced to close the clinic when they realised that supplies had almost dried up. Behind the door of a nearby, makeshift morgue, 27 bodies – each wrapped in a white shawl – had been placed in a neat side-by-side row running the length of the room. By mid-morning, the flies had already come to hover over the corpses. "This is a catasptrophe," said Dr Ahmed Fawzy, a cardiologist working at the field hospital. "It's a crime against humanity." The Muslim Brotherhood, which has steadfastly refused to sign up to the ongoing transitional process, said that 70 supporters of the Mr Morsi had been shot dead during the violence. But a report on Al Jazeera said that as many as 120 people may have been killed, along with about 4,500 injured. According to Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Brotherhood's political wing, the fighting began on the fringes of the sit-in before dawn. "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," said Mr el-Haddad, referring to the police. Reports suggested that Mr Morsi's supporters had attempted to move beyond the rally's confines towards a nearby bridge, but were then beaten back by the central security services. Cairo had already been on edge this week following a call from General Abdel Fatah el-Sissi, Egypt's top commander, for protesters to take to the streets to give his army a "mandate" to act against so-called terrorist threats. The televised statement made no mention of any group by name, but his speech was interpreted as a grave warning to the Muslim Brotherhood – which is still refusing to join the current transitional process. via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHa14khPWlbYcftIG-E6zjOxmgVxA&url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/egypt-unrest-at-least-70-supporters-or-mohamed-morsi-killed-by-security-services-in-cairo-8734675.html

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