Tear gas used against pro-Morsi protesters in Cairo.
Image from Al Jazeera video
Violence has erupted in Cairo once more with seven people being killed in clashes between security forces and Muslim Brotherhood Morsi-supporters in the Egyptian capital.
Protesters calling for the reinstatement of President Morsi blocked the Sixth of October Bridge, a major road in the city. Security forces attempted to clear the bridge using tear gas, and the protesters responded by hurling rocks and stones. Two people are reported to have been killed in the clashes on the bridge, with a further five killed as the violence spread to nearby Giza district, with 261 people injured in total including security personnel. 401 people were reportedly arrested as a result of the unrest.
The protesters, consisting predominantly of Muslim Brotherhood members, believe that the military’s intervention to oust President Morsi was a coup, and his continued detention is undemocratic. The protests on Monday were the most violent since the incident at the Republican Guard compound last week.
The military intervened on 3rd July after days of large-scale protests across Egypt, where millions of protesters complained that Morsi was working against the revolution that had ousted former leader Hosni Mubarak, and was pushing Islamist ideas with the backing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Supporters of the intervention claim that the military stepped in to prevent further Islamisation of society and to support the will of the people, and point to the fact that the military did not hold onto power very long, immediately instating legal figure Adli Mansour as interim president, and the interim government quickly outlining a roadmap to elections.
