TURMOIL IN EGYPT
A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and of ousted president Mohammed Morsi runs past a burning vehicle during clashes with security officers close to Cairo’s Ramses Square on Friday. Backers of Egypt’s ousted president pledged to stage daily demonstrations as they ended a day of angry protests in which at least 82 people were killed.
CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt’s capital descended into chaos Friday as vigilantes at neighbourhood checkpoints battled Muslim Brotherhoodled protesters denouncing the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi and a deadly crackdown. The fiercest street clashes Cairo has seen in more than two years of turmoil left at least 82 people dead, including 10 policemen.
In Alexandria, about 170 kilometres away, a Canadian resident, married to a Canadian citizen, was killed, according to Foreign Affairs.
The Globe and Mail identified the dead Canadian resident as 26-yearold Amr Kassem, who lived in Toronto with his wife and child. He is married to a Canadian citizen, according to Foreign Affairs.
Kassem reportedly joined a large rally in Alexandria on Friday that was protesting the crackdown by security forces against anti-government demonstrators. His wife is quoted as saying he was shot in the back of his head.
The sight of residents firing at one another marked a dark turn in the conflict, as civilians armed with pistols and assault rifles fought protesters taking part in what the Muslim Brotherhood called a “Day of Rage” — ignited by anger at security forces for clearing two sit-in demonstrations Wednesday that sparked nationwide clashes in which more than 600 people died.
Military helicopters circled overhead as residents furious with the Brotherhood protests pelted marchers with rocks and glass bottles. The two sides also fired on one another, sparking running street battles throughout the capital’s residential neighbourhoods.
Across the country, at least 72 civilians were killed, along with 10 police officers, security officials said. Friday’s violence capped off a week that saw more than 700 people killed across the country — surpassing the combined death toll from two and a half years of violent protests since the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak until the toppling of Morsi in a July 3 coup.
Unlike in past clashes between protesters and police, Friday’s violence introduced a combustible new mix, with residents and police in civilian clothing battling those participating in the Brotherhoodled marches.
Few police in uniform were seen as neighbourhood watchdogs and pro-Morsi protesters fired at one another for hours on a bridge that crosses over Cairo’s Zamalek district, an upscale island neighbourhood where many foreigners and ambassadors reside.
Friday’s violence erupted shortly after midday prayers when tens of thousands of Brotherhood supporters answered the group’s call to protest across Egypt in defiance of a military-imposed state of emergency following the bloodshed earlier this week.
Armed civilians manned impromptu checkpoints throughout the capital, banning Brotherhood marches from approaching and frisking anyone wanting to pass through.