Two killed and many injured in new attack on pro-Morsi protesters

A pre-dawn attack on Wednesday against a pro-Morsi rally left two killed and many injured. Medical sources in Rabaa Al-Adawiyya field clinic described the injuries as serious to moderate. One of those killed was shot in the head; the other was hit in the chest, apparently confirming eyewitness claims that the shots were fired by well-trained snipers using night-sights.

According to journalist Ahmed Mansour, the rally was peaceful until someone told the group to take a different route. Entering Roxy Street, he said, they were fired upon from an unlit building.

The leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, Mohamed al-Beltaji, claimed that the attackers were undercover policemen and most probably snipers. The medical sources confirmed that the injuries were consistent with being hit by sniper fire, with most victims being targeted in the upper body.

The latest attack brings the death toll among pro-Morsi protesters in just two days to 12, with more than 80 wounded. It came after an explosion at a police station in Al-Mansour City. The Ministry of the Interior blamed this on “terrorists”; an investigation is under way. Twelve policemen and 6 bystanders were injured in the explosion.

The Alliance for Legitimacy, made up of Muslim Brotherhood and other anti-coup groups, condemned the bomb attack and distanced themselves from it. “We will continue our peaceful protests despite all attempts to drag us towards violence,” a statement said.

It is believed that the bomb was orchestrated by the coup authorities in an attempt to blame the growing anti-coup movement. A number of Egyptian journalists wrote on their Facebook pages that staff from some media agencies arrived on the scene half an hour before the bomb went off. A local nurse claimed that she and her colleagues had been advised to prepare for casualties before the device exploded.