17 dead, hundreds wounded as post-coup violence erupts in Egypt
17 dead, hundreds wounded as post-coup violence erupts in Egypt
By Ben Wedeman. Chelsea J. Carter and Tom Watkins, CNN
updated 5:24 PM EDT, Fri July 5, 2013
Supporters and opponents of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy clash in Cairo near Maspero, where Egypt's state TV and radio station is located, on Friday, July 5. Fighting erupted Friday night between hundreds of protesters, with the two sides facing off on a bridge, raising fears of widening violence after the military ousted the country's first democratically elected president. View photos of protests that erupted before the coup.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Morsy supporters hold up their bloodstained hands after Egypt's armed forces opened fire on rally in front of the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo on July 5.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Morsy supporters carry a man who was shot during clashes next to the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo on July 5. State broadcaster Nile TV said a number of those backing the deposed leader were wounded as they tried to storm the headquarters, where Morsy reportedly was being held.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A wounded man is helped following the gun battle outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard on July 5.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Egyptians hold portraits of Gen. Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi reading "Come down, Sisi" as they gather in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square on July 5.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Morsy supporters react to an explosion during clashes with police officers on July 5 outside Cairo University in Giza.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard at the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard on July 5 as an Apache attack helicopter flies overhead.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Morsy supporters pray near the University of Cairo in Giza on July 5.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A man prays on July 5 before the protest near the University of Cairo.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Protesters take cover from tear gas during clashes outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard in Cairo on July 5.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A military helicopter flies by Egypt's Presidential Palace in Cairo on July 5.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Egyptians watch fireworks in Tahrir Square on Thursday, July 4, the day after Morsy's ouster.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg People dance and cheer in the streets of Cairo on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A government supporter holds a poster of Morsy during a July 4 rally in Nasr City.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A massive crowd gathers in Tahrir Square on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Egyptians cheer and wave national flags as airplanes fly above Tahrir Square on July 4, leaving a trail of smoke in the colors of the national flag.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A woman uses a mobile phone to record the July 4 celebrations in Tahrir Square.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg An opposition protester chants slogans against Morsy near Cairo University, where Muslim Brotherhood supporters gathered on July 4 to show support for the ousted president.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A man holds a newspaper near Mesaha Square in Cairo on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Dejected Morsy supporters attend a rally in Nasr City on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A Morsy supporter shows his bloodied shirt during a July 4 rally near the University of Cairo.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A young Egyptian boy shoots off fireworks during celebrations in Tahrir Square on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg People walk by a pile of Egyptian flags for sale in Tahrir Square on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Crowds throng Tahrir Square on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Egyptian soldiers deploy near Cairo University on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg People dance and cheer at Tahrir Square in Cairo on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Adly Mansour, center, stands after delivering a speech during his swearing-in ceremony as Egypt's interim president in the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo on July 4. Mansour has served as the head of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Armored vehicles with the Egyptian army sit at a checkpoint in the Cairo district of Nasr City on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A Morsy supporter reacts as a military helicopter flies over during a July 4 rally in Nasr City.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A boy with face paint the color of the Egyptian flag pauses on July 4 in Tahrir Square.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A pedestrian shakes hands with a member of the military at a roadblock in Giza.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Security personnel rest on July 4 in Tahrir Square.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A man walks to Tahrir Square on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A family sleeps on a bridge near Tahrir Square on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg A member of the Egyptian military redirects traffic on July 4 at a roadblock in Giza.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg Bread is sold near Tahrir Square on July 4.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg An Egyptian military member guards a roadblock in Giza on July 4.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Egyptian soldiers stop CNN's Ben Wedeman from reporting, seize camera
- At least 17 people were killed Friday across Egypt, state-run media says
- The Freedom and Justice Party says 5 dead outside Republican Guard headquarters
- Egyptian police and army personnel are attacked in the Sinai Peninsula
CNN's Ben Wedeman, Reza Sayah, Ian Lee, Becky Anderson and Karl Penhaul are reporting from Egypt. Are you in Egypt? Send us your experiences, but please stay safe.
Cairo (CNN) -- Fighting erupted Friday night in Cairo between hundreds of supporters of Mohamed Morsy and their opponents before the military broke it up, raising fears of widening violence after the military ousted the country's first democratically elected president.
The violence came as Morsy's supporters held massive protests across the country, calling for his reinstatement, a counter to the huge demonstrations among those celebrating his ouster.
At least 17 people were killed Friday and hundreds more were injured in clashes across the country that pitted Morsy supporters against his opponents and the military, state-run Egyptian television reported, citing the Ministry of Health.
Among those killed were five Morsy supporters who were shot by the army in front of the headquarters of the Republican Guard headquarters, where Morsy was said to be detained, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing -- the Freedom and Justice Party -- said.
The health ministry reported that at least two people were killed and 65 injured in clashes there.
The fighting broke out when Morsy supporters tried to storm the building, state broadcaster Nile TV said.
CNN's Reza Sayah, reporting from outside the building, said he had seen one body around which scores of Morsy supporters were huddled, some of them crying.
A few feet away, demonstrators faced off across a barbed-wire barricade behind which stood a line of soldiers who detonated flash grenades and fired tear gas in an apparent attempt to get the demonstrators to move away.
Many of them did just that, though thousands of others remained in defiance. Demonstrators could be seen carrying away a wounded man. Some demonstrators waved flags and held pictures of Morsy and vowed not to leave until the military returns Morsy to office.
Nile TV, citing an unnamed security source, said live ammunition had not been used against demonstrators and no one was hurt or killed.
By nightfall, clashes on a bridge near Tahrir Square began after a standoff that saw anti-Morsy demonstrators advance on his supporters, with both sides throwing rocks and shooting fireworks at each other as hundreds of people ran, according to video footage.
About 100 soldiers, backed by armored personnel carriers, descended on the bridge to separate the two sides and break up the fighting.
CNN's Ben Wedeman was reporting live near the bridge when soldiers unplugged his crew's camera and confiscated the equipment. Wedeman said an agreement subsequently was reached that the camera would be returned -- without the video footage.
The violence was the latest fallout following Wednesday's move by the nation's powerful military to remove Morsy.
Morsy had become the nation's first democratically elected president a year ago, but failed to fix the nation's ailing economy or improve its crime problems and was seen by many as increasingly autocratic.
Anti-Morsy protesters eye next moves
Human Rights Watch has said he had continued abusive practices established by the former dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, who was pushed out in 2011 after three decades of iron rule supported by the U.S. government. Military courts continued trying civilians; police abuses were allowed.
"Numerous journalists, political activists, and others were prosecuted on charges of 'insulting' officials or institutions and 'spreading false information,'" the rights group said.
Throngs of protesters filled Egyptian streets for days, calling for him to step down.
The president's supporters turned out at massive counter demonstrations. At times, the two sides clashed with deadly consequences.
On Monday, the army gave him 48 hours to agree to share power or be pushed aside.
On Wednesday, the military rejected Morsy's conciliatory gestures as insufficient and announced its "road map" to stability and new elections.
Morsy and a number of leaders of the Brotherhood were arrested and may face charges over the deaths of protesters during clashes with Morsy's supporters, many of whom also died.
Moves spark outrage
A day later, Adly Mansour, head of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, was sworn in as interim president.
Who is Egypt's Interim President?
He dissolved Egypt's upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, and appointed a new head of intelligence, Egyptian state TV said Friday.
The moves sparked outrage among Egyptians who saw them as counter to what their fledgling democracy was supposed to have been all about.
Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood's spiritual leader, exhorted the thousands of people who packed the area around the Rabaa Adawiya mosque in Cairo to fight back.
"The coup is illegal and we will never accept its results," said Badie, whose title is supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. "We sacrificed so dearly to reach this point, and we will never return to the past again."
Badie challenged the Egyptian army to "return to the arms of the nation."
The furor appeared to escalate during the day. By nightfall, a car was burning on the 6th of October Bridge, which commemorates the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, that leads to Tahrir Square, which had been a focal point for demonstrators seeking to remove Morsy from power and where supporters of the military turned out Friday.
In Haram, a neighborhood of Giza in greater Cairo, one person was killed and seven were injured when a group of armed men attacked a police station, a spokesman for the health ministry said.
At least 10 people were injured in clashes between supporters of Morsy and residents in the city of Damanhour, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Cairo, Nile TV said Friday.
And state television showed pictures from Alexandria of security forces firing tear gas at pro-Morsy demonstrators.
Outside Cairo University, throngs of pro-Morsy demonstrators formed human chains as others participating in a sit-in shouted, "Police are thugs!"
Egypt's armed forces said they would guarantee the rights of protesters as long the protests resulted in neither violence nor destruction of property.
The demonstrations occurred as the African Union announced Friday that it has suspended Egypt from its ranks of member countries.
The AU's Peace and Security Council also said it was sending a team to Egypt to work toward restoring constitutional order.
Dismantling the Brotherhood?
Police were seeking 300 Brotherhood members, state media reported.
A spokesman for the Freedom and Justice Party said Thursday the coup had turned into "very, very questionable attempts by the military to dismantle the Brotherhood."
Opinion: Can the Muslim Brotherhood survive?
But the Freedom and Justice Party chief, Saad el-Katatni, and the party deputy, Rashad Al-Bayoumi, who were arrested Thursday in Egypt after the overthrow of Mohamed Morsy, had been released, Nile TV, said Friday.
The democratic Tamarod movement, which had sought Morsy's ouster, has nominated Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader, to become prime minister.
ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, described Morsy's ouster as a "correction of the uprising of 2011."
Other opposition leaders and protesters have objected to the use of "coup" to describe the military's removal of the elected president via non-democratic means.
President Barack Obama said the United States was "deeply concerned" about the move, but did not use the word "coup."
Washington has supplied Egypt's military with tens of billions of dollars in support and equipment for more than 30 years. Under U.S. law, that support could be cut off after a coup.
More violence
On Friday, Islamist gunmen attacked Egyptian police stations and checkpoints in the Sinai, killing at least one soldier, agencies reported.
A senior intelligence officer who would not agree to being identified said two police officers were killed in the northern Sinai city of Arish when a group of men drove by the police station and shot them.
The assaults may have nothing to do with extremist threats to avenge Morsy's overthrow.
The desert peninsula next to Israel and Gaza has long eluded the control of Egyptian security forces, leaving extremists affiliated with al Qaeda plenty of room to establish themselves.
Chronic violence troubled the Sinai years before it did the rest of Egypt.
The army said it was on high alert, a level below maximum alert, in the Sinai and Suez provinces.
Egypt is the largest Arab country in the world and a close ally of the United States, which gives it $1.5 billion per year for military and civilian programs.
It controls the Suez Canal, a crucial sea route through which more than 4% of the world's oil and 8% of its seaborne trade travel.
With Jordan, it is one of two Arab countries that has made peace with Israel.
Egypt content from around the Web
Wendell Steavenson writes about the scale of the Cairo protests and their consequences for the New Yorker.
Under the headline "Egypt's Tragedy," London-based news magazine The Economist says Morsy was incompetent but his removal by the military is a cause for regret:
The Jerusalem Post's diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon writes that the unpredictability of the Arab Spring has been problematic for Israel, which has "no interest in its largest neighbor becoming a failed state."
In its editorial, the Sydney Morning Herald says the Egyptian army's "decision to intervene one year after the election was premature" and creates "the impression that mobs can bring down the government."
In a blog carried by The Guardian newspaper, Nafeez Ahmed blames declining oil revenue, an overdependence on food imports, ongoing unemployment and a growing population for the unrest in Egypt.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/05/world/meast/egypt-coup/index.html
