AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AFP, REUTERS, RUSSIA TODAY (Russia)
CAIRO — Dozens of people are reported to have been killed in an Egyptian security forces operation meant to disperse protest camps in Cairo’s streets, where supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi were demanding his reinstatement.
The exact number of casualties remains unclear, as reports are conflicting. Emergency officials confirmed that at least six people had been killed and 26 injured, reports Russia Today. A journalist from the news agency AFP counted 43 victims, while Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad claimed that 600 people were killed and thousands more injured.
death toll now estimated at 600, bodies still coming, no end in sight . god save egypt
— Gehad El-Haddad (@gelhaddad) August 14, 2013
The Interior Ministry, whose police forces began by using tear gas on the pro-Morsi dissidents, has not confirmed the number of victims among the protesters. It said that two security forces members had been killed, adding that 150 pro-Morsi protesters had been arrested at the camp on Nahda square, which was completely cleared, and another 50 at the camp on Rabaa al-Adawiya, in northeast Cairo.
People at the camp described the assault on Twitter, posting pictures of what appear to be snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings.
Photo shows snipers firing rom an Intelligence Agency building at #Rabaa pic.twitter.com/YYaKcOcAB3 #Egypt #AntiCoup
— Jamal Elshayyal جمال (@JamalsNews) August 14, 2013