Death toll climbs as clashes continue

The Ministry of Interior is instructed to “deal with Muslim Brotherhood members” after the curfew, Sherif Shawky, media advisor to the Cabinet told Al-Hayat television channel. 

“We are facing terrorism but we want to calm down the people. Forces are present,” Shawky added.

Meanwhile, as violent clashes continue across Cairo and other governorates, a Mada Masr reporter has counted 45 corpses at the Taamin Sehi field hospital in Ramses alone. According to the Health Ministry the current number of dead civilians in today’s violence is 17, and 104 people have been injured nationwide.

The toll is expected to be much higher once the casualties from ongoing violence in downtown Cairo are brought to hospital, as supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi clash with security forces and residents in various neighborhoods in Cairo and other governorates.

The Interior Ministry called on citizens to avoid Galaa Square and Ramses and the Nile Corniche to allow it to “combat terrorism.” It has reported that 64 police personnel have been killed in today’s violence.

The Mada Masr journalist confirmed reports that gunfire is coming from helicopters flying over Ramses, where clashes continue as more than 20 marches headed there after Friday prayers and thousands of protesters have congregated. Violent confrontations have reached Galaa Street and continued in Azbakiya, where there were earlier reports of protesters attempting to attack the local police station.

Earlier in the day, another Mada Masr reporter on the scene said the violence started when some youths urged others to march towards Boulaq Abou al-Ela, a neighborhood known to be well-armed, near Ramses. Residents there have come into confrontations with deposed President Mohamed Morsi’s supporters before. Some youth from the protesters side started throwing stones even though others urged them to retreat, after which clashes erupted with residents of the area.

According to Mada Masr’s reporter, protesters who instigated the clashes at Azbakiya station were all youths. They had a yellow and red skull and crossbones flag. The majority of the crowd was urging them to retreat and physically trying to move them but they refused, at which point civilians joined.

Some protesters stuck in the gunfire on October 6 Bridge by Azbakiya Police Station had to jump off to escape the bullets. There was shooting seen coming from the station.

Inside Al-Fath Mosque, where corpses from the Ramses clashes were transferred, Mada Masr’s reporter spoke to Mohamed Oqda, a member of the Salafi Watan Party. He said that most of the dead had bullets in the neck, the chest and the head. He said that military choppers were firing live ammunition at protesters. He also said that people were firing with AK-47s, but he wasn’t sure if they were military, police or government thugs. Asked what’s next, he said, “more protesting, more escalation, we have to regain our country.” 

The state-run Middle East News Agency reported that five cars drove to Ramses Square, carrying automatic weapons and Al-Qaeda flags that they distributed to the rest of protesters. 

Toward the evening, the building of the Arab Contractors, adjacent to the police station, was on fire. 

Clashes also broke out in Giza when security forces stopped a march from Istiqama Mosque heading towards Nahda Square. State news agency MENA says protesters attempted to attack the Mar Guirgis Church and the Giza Diocese in Mourad Street but were stopped by the police.

An attack on Shubra Police Station is being attempted, according to live streams on satellite channels, with gunfire in the area as residents try to protect it.

State TV has also reported that tear gas has been used against a march approaching Mostafa Mahmoud Square in Mohandiseen. There has been a heavy security presence there since the morning, and protesters are clashing with security forces on nearby Gameat al-Dawal Street.

A march that was heading to Mostafa Mahmoud Square over the May 15 Bridge, which included some protesters visibly armed, turned around after coming into confrontations with residents of Boulaq al-Ela. A special forces police officer told Mada Masr that the march over May 15 Bridge included some armed protesters who were firing randomly in the air. When they got to Aboul al-Ela, they clashed with residents in the area. They then turned around and went back towards Mohandiseen, where an eyewitness said they were heading towards Sphinx Square, some with visible weapons.

An eyewitness also told Mada Masr that clashes between residents and Morsi supporters erupted in Shubra, after a march coming through the Ahmed Helmy Tunnel was stopped by residents. This is just on the other side of Boulaq al-Ela, and according to the eyewitness there is no security presence in the area.

Popular security committees have been formed there, and caught 15 protesters who are now being held in a coffee shop because they reportedly had weapons. Residents said they had called the police to come arrest them.

There are also reported attacks on the police station in 6th of October City and others in Giza. 

The Muslim Brotherhood organized the protests under the name of “the Friday of Wrath”, two days following the forcible dispersal of their sit-ins by the army and the police. 

Borrowing a name from the January 28 “Friday of Wrath” that led to former President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in 2011, today’s protests were expected to turn violent. They follow two days of scattered violence around Egypt, as Brotherhood supporters clashed with police and residents in various locations. 

The Brotherhood had announced that the day will be marked by 28 marches starting from several mosques in Cairo, according to the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy.

“Despite our pain for the loss of martyrs and the suffering of the injured, the crimes of the coup regime have made us more determined to reject it,” the coalition said in a statement on Friday. The coalition also vowed that the protests will remain peaceful. 

In an address to his followers on Friday, Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie said that protests will not stop because the Egyptian people want freedom. He added that the military’s ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, who belonged to the group, is part of its plan to take over and rule Egypt. 

Meanwhile, the army deployed tanks around Tahrir Square, blocking all entrances, ahead of the Brotherhood’s planned protests. 

In a statement on Facebook, the Cabinet wrote that the army, the police and the people are one hand in the face of the “brutal terrorist plot organized by the Brotherhood against Egypt.”

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