Hundreds Dead in Egypt Clashes, Emergency Declared

Local Editor

Egypt was under a tense state of emergency Thursday after security forces stormed the Cairo protest camps supporting ousted president Mohammed Mursi.

The last hours incident sparked violence across the country which officials said claimed 278 lives.
The army-backed interim government imposed a month-long nationwide state of emergency, and curfews in Cairo and 13 other provinces after the violence on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, four churches were attacked, with Christian activists accusing Mursi loyalists of waging "a war of retaliation against Copts in Egypt".
Hours after tear gas canisters first rained down on tents of protesters in the sprawling Rabaa al-Adawiya camp in eastern Cairo, at least 124 bodies were counted in makeshift morgues there.

The health ministry said 235 civilians were killed in the Cairo crackdown and in subsequent clashes across Egypt. The interior ministry added that 43 security personnel had lost their lives.
Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood spoke of 2,200 dead overall and more than 10,000 wounded.
In parallel, vice president and Nobel laureate Mohamed al-Baradei resigned, saying his conscience was troubled over the loss of life, "particularly as I believe it could have been avoided".
"It has become too difficult to continue bearing responsibility for decisions I do not agree with and whose consequences I fear," he said.

The state of emergency went into effect at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, with daily overnight curfews from 7:00 pm to 6:00 am.
Many Mursi supporters were given safe passage out of the camp, some flashing victory signs as they left through a security corridor.

A security official stated that hundreds of people were taking advantage of the safe passage offer, but that some diehards had stayed behind to fight on.
By Wednesday evening, a security official said Rabaa al-Adawiya was "totally under control", adding: "There are no more clashes".

In the smaller of the protest camps, at al-Nahda square in central Cairo, police said they had control of the area after two hours.
Television footage showed flattened tents, as women and children flanked by police and army troops were led out of the square.
Dozens rounded up in the dispersal were shown sitting on the ground, handcuffed and surrounded by security forces.

Authorities later said calm had been restored across the country.

Europe's leading powers, along with Iran, Qatar and Turkey, strongly denounced the use of force by the interim government.
The White House said Washington, which provides Egypt with $1.3 billion in annual military aid, "strongly condemns" the violence against the protesters and opposes the imposition of a state of emergency.
Interim prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi praised the police for their "self-restraint" and said the government remained committed to an army-drafted roadmap that calls for elections in 2014.
The Muslim Brotherhood urged Egyptians to take to the streets in their thousands to denounce the "massacre".

"This is not an attempt to disperse, but a bloody attempt to crush all voices of opposition to the military coup," Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad said on Twitter.
Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said no more protests would be tolerated.
Clashes also erupted between security forces and Mursi supporters in the northern provinces of Alexandria and Beheira, the canal provinces of Suez and Ismailiya, and the central provinces of Assiut and Menya.
In Alexandria, hundreds of angry Mursi supporters marched through the streets armed with wooden clubs chanting "Mursi is my president".

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team