Egypt Forces Launch Bloody Seige to Clear Pro-Morsi Protest Camps in Cairo
Egyptian security forces, backed by armored cars and bulldozers, moved on Wednesday to clear two sit-in protests by supporters of the country’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, showering protesters with tear gas as automatic gunfire rang out at both sites, state television and security officials said.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the well-organized Islamist group which propelled Morsi into office and continues to demand his reinstatement, said in a statement that at least 60 people were killed and dozens injured in the attack on the larger of the two protest camps, at the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City.
The state news agency said only that two members of the security forces were killed by gunfire.
CBS News’ Alex Ortiz said police and army personnel had blocked every road into the area around the Rabaah camp, and pro-Morsi demonstrators were clashing with police outside the cordoned-off area, too. He said huge plumes of black smoke were rising over the camp and continuing automatic gunfire could be heard coming from the site.
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