At Least 578 People Killed in Egypt Violence
At least 578 people were killed in the violence that swept Egypt Wednesday, the health ministry said, with more than 300 of them losing their lives after police assaults on Cairo sit-ins.
The death toll included 43 policemen and 318 protesters killed in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda square protest camps, senior health ministry official Khaled al-Khatib told Agence France Presse Thursday.
In total, 535 civilians died nationwide.
The policemen died in clashes with the protesters in Cairo and in attacks on police stations across the country.
On Thursday afternoon, supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi launched attacks on police posts in two provinces, killing at least two policemen, security officials said.
A 21-year-old policeman was fatally shot in the chest and arm in the North Sinai town of Al-Arish after gunmen attacked the Police Club.
Another policeman was killed in an attack on a police station in the central city of Assiut.
Later in the Sinai peninsula, militants killed seven other soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint, security officials said.
The soldiers were killed when gunmen in two cars attacked them in their tents at a checkpoint near a police station in the town of El-Arish, the officials said.
The northern part of the peninsula has seen a semi-insurgency by Bedouin militants since the July 3 military overthrow of Mohammed Morsi.
In Cairo, Islamist protesters stormed the Giza governorate headquarters and set it on fire, state television reported.
Private Egyptian television CBC showed footage of the headquarters in flames as men tried to douse the fire with hoses.
In Alexandria, hundreds of Morsi supporters cut the road on the corniche, chanting for their deposed president, state media reported.
In the Beni Sueif province, pro-Morsi protesters took to the streets to denounce a crackdown by police on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the interior ministry has instructed police to use live ammunition in dealing with attacks on government buildings and police forces.
"The interior ministry has instructed all forces to use live ammunition to counter any attacks on government buildings or forces," a statement said, after Islamists killed two policemen and torched a provincial government headquarters in Cairo.
Source: Agence France Presse
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