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On Thursday, five people were killed as Egyptian police tried to repress attempts made by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi to memorialize the first anniversary of the crackdown in Cairo.
On August 14th, 2013, current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, then the Egyptian army chief, had removed Morsi, the first freely elected President in Egypt. After Morsi’s removal, security forces cracked down thousands of Morsi’s supporters at protester camps in Nahda and Rabaa al-Adawiya squares, leaving several hundreds dead.
The assault was “one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history”, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released ahead of the anniversary. In Rabaa al-Adawiya square alone 917 people have been killed, the HRW said, calling for a probe into likely “crimes against humanity”.
According to official estimates, over 700 people were killed at Nahda and Rabaa al-Adawiya squares on the day. Morsi’s supporters had, on Thursday, attempted to protest before they were swiftly suppressed; it indicates the dwindling ability to stage demonstrations and protests in the country after Morsi was overthrown in July 2013.
The pro-Morsi Anti-Coup Alliance had appealed for a nationwide rallies under the slogan “We Demand Retribution”.
On Thursday, two people, a bystander and a Morsi supporter, were shot dead when police forces clashed with protesters in West Cairo, a member of the security forces said. Another person was also killed when anti and pro Morsi camps clashed in north Cairo.
Police forces fired tear gas at clashes with pro-Morsi protesters in the town of Kerdasa and in 3 neighborhoods in the city Alexandria.
Similar trouble was rumored to have taken place in the province of Sharqiya in the Nile Delta. At least fourteen people were wounded and almost 70 were arrested across the nation, state news agency MENA reported.
