AL JAZEERA (Qatar), THE GUARDIAN (UK), BBC
CAIRO — The day after more than 500 people were massacred as Egypt’s security forces swept through Cairo streets with weapons, tear gas and bulldozers to disperse protesters, supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi are calling for new demonstrations.
Despite the interim government declaring a state of emergency and imposing curfews in Cairo and 13 other regions Wednesday, some members of the Muslim Brotherhood plan to return to the streets, Al Jazeera reports.
The number of reported casualties has been steadily rising. Early this morning, Egyptian officials put the number of dead at 327, saying another 2,926 had been injured, the Guardian reports. But that number has since been updated to 525, according to the BBC.
But Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad is claiming a much higher death toll on his Twitter account, counting at least 4,500 victims.
Total death count is over 4,500 till now. Counting & identification still going on in 3 mosques, 3 hospitals & 2 mortuaries. #RabaaMassacre
— Gehad El-Haddad (@gelhaddad) August 15, 2013
As pictures of the devastated city are posted on the Internet, the international community is strongly condemning yesterday’s violence, the BBC writes.
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More than 200 bodies here, many badly burned. pic.twitter.com/UHwOFb5MeX
— Kareem Fahim (@kfahim) August 15, 2013
Post Massacre set in #Egyptpic.twitter.com/WwOxNu7ORZ
— ØµØ¨Ø§Ø Øمامو (@Hamamou) August 15, 2013
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described the events as “deplorable” and “a real blow to reconciliation efforts,” and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting over Egypt’s “very serious massacre.”
Small rallies were also held in Israel, Gaza, Turkey and Tunisia in support of the pro-Morsi groups, Al Jazeera reports.
