Egypt: Tuesday’s anniversary of Mohamed Mahmoud events resulted in violent clashes

Clashes erupted in Cairo
(Image: Voice of America News)

Marches in commemoration of the victims of Mohamed Mahmoud Street violence in 2011 resulted in the violent clashes erupted between the supporters of Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and Egypt’s military and their opponents.

The groups supporting the ouster of Islamist backed President Mohamed Morsy by the military and the loyalists of the Head of Armed Forces El-Sissi have held their march in Tahrir on Tuesday, while the groups opposing the military rule staged anti-military protests claiming that army is also responsible for the killings of the peaceful protesters on Mohamed Mahmoud Street as SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) was in charge that time.

We would remind here, that the marches of the peaceful protesters to the headquarters of the Interior Ministry in Cairo on 19 November 2011 have resulted in terrible clashes between the protesters and the security and armed forces with 47 people dead and hundreds of injured including very serious injuries as the riot police personnel was shooting targeting the heads and faces of the protesters. Muslim Brotherhood in its turn has denounced the protests and turned its back to the protesters claiming they are trying to disrupt the security in the country ahead of the parliamentary elections. The clashes took place one week before the elections, and Muslim Brotherhood couldn’t allow the elections to be postponed.

Though the commemoration of Mohamed Mahmoud events in 2013 resulted in the violent clashes erupted first between El-Sissi supporters and his opponents, but in the late hours of Tuesday the situation escalated as the protesters have moved to the building of the Arab League headquarters where they’ve clashed with security forces and police. Protesters have been throwing rocks and stones, so the police fired teargas in order to disperse the crowds and to move protesters from the square. Police forces have also used birdshots as well.

The violent clashes resulted in the death of at least two people, according to the information of Egypt’s Ministry of Health. Both of the dead protesters were young men, 20 and 25-year old respectively.