CAIRO: Hundreds of people have been killed as Egyptian security forces used armored cars, bulldozers, tear gas and automatic weapons Wednesday to clear two protest camps in Cairo set up by Muslim Brotherhood supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
Authorities admitted only 149 deaths and said around 800 have been injured. At least two journalists were among the dead. Muslim Brotherhood placed the death toll at 600 and injured numbering thousands.
A month-long state of emergency was later declared as violence spread from the capital to other parts of the country including the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
A curfew from 7pm to 6am has been declared in Cairo, according to reports, as well as ten other provinces including Alexandria and Suez.
Sky news reported from inside the Rabaa al Adawiya camp in Cairo, that the camp was “under very heavy gunfire” and was a “massive military assault on largely unarmed civilians in very large numbers”.
He said government forces were using machine guns, snipers, M16s, AK47s and were firing into the crowd.
“There are machine gun rounds, and snipers on the roof, that are preventing people from getting any closer to the field hospital (in the camp), a reporter for the channel said.
The camp is full of women and children.”
He said it was a scene of “extreme chaos and bloodshed” and “many hundreds of troops and interior ministry police and special forces are involved”.
“The dead and dying are on the steps of this improvised field hospital. The scenes here are absolutely graphic.
“I have covered many wars and this is as severe a battlefield as I have witnessed, with the exception of scenes in Rwanda. There are dozens and dozens of people who have been shot in the head, neck and upper body.”
However, Egyptian authorities have released video footage taken from a helicopter which it says show gunmen in the camp firing at security forces.
The unrest may be spreading as there were reports of pro-Morsi supporters clashing with police in the cities of Minya and Assiut.
Earlier, police in Cairo backed by armoured vehicles and bulldozers also fired tear gas at the demonstrators who are demanding Mr Morsi be reinstated as the country’s leader.
The interior ministry, which is in charge of police, warned its security forces would deal firmly with protesters acting “irresponsibly” and said it would guarantee safe passage to those who want to leave the two sites.
The larger is the Rabaa al Adawiya camp described as a ‘mini town’ in Nasr City, while the other is in Al Nahda Square outside the main campus of Cairo University in Giza.
The interior ministry later said security forces had “total control” over the smaller camp and police have managed to remove most of the tents in the square.
A cameraman for British broadcaster Sky News and a Dubai-based newspaper reporter were killed during violence.
Sky said Mick Deane, 61, was shot and wounded while covering the violent breakup in the capital. It said he was treated for his injuries but died soon after.
Another journalist Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz, 26, was shot dead near the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo as security forces moved in on a sit-in.
Turkey meanwhile urged the UN Security Council and Arab League on Wednesday to act quickly to stop a massacre in Egypt, and Iran warned of the risk of civil war, after Egyptian security forces killed dozens of Islamist demonstrators.
President Tayyip Erdogan said international passivity had paved the way for the military-backed Egyptian governments crackdown, which included violence in areas beyond the capital that killed at least 14 protesters.
It is clear that the international community, by supporting the military coup (that ousted Morsi on July 3), and remaining silent over previous massacres instead of protecting democracy and constitutional legitimacy in Egypt, has encouraged the current administration to carry out todays intervention.
Iran denounced the Egyptian bloodshed and called for a national dialogue and democratic process.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern and added: Undoubtedly the current approach … strengthens the likelihood of civil war in this great Islamic country. Agencies
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