Nearly 50 Egyptians have been killed in clashes between rival protesters on the third anniversary of the 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, overshadowing what the Government had hoped would be remembered a day of nationalist celebration.
Rival demonstrations of supporters and opponents of the military-backed Government took place in Cairo on Saturday. But police quelled anti-Government protests, and arrests were reported in Cairo and Alexandria as violence broke out.
Forty-nine people were killed, the ministry said, in 24 hours of fighting across Egypt as police and supporters of the military-installed Government clashed with Islamist backers of President Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed in July after a single turbulent year in power.
Most of the deaths were in Cairo and its suburbs, and others in Alexandria and Minya, while 247 were injured, the Health Ministry said on Sunday. Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced that a further 1,079 people had been arrested.
Hundreds have died since July when the Army deposed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Extra security measures were in place on Saturday as Egyptian Interior Minister Muhammad Ibrahim urged Egyptians not to be afraid to go to events marking the anniversary of the uprising.
Thousands of supporters of the military and the Government gathered in high-profile locations including Tahrir Square - the focal point of the 18-day popular revolt in 2011, the BBC reported.
Participants waved Egyptian flags and banners showing army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom many urged to run for president.
Meanwhile, four Egyptian soldiers were killed and 13 others injured when militants attacked their bus in the restive Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, prompting the military to threaten the complete elimination of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been declared a “terrorist” group.