Clashes spread in Egypt amid rising death toll from army massacre
● Clashes erupted across Egypt yesterday in the wake of efforts by the Egyptian military junta to drown protests in blood. Following Wednesday’s massacre, supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi protested and attacked government buildings throughout the country.
● The army ousted Mursi in a July 3 coup aimed at pre-empting developing mass working class protests against Mursi’s reactionary policies and moving back to the type of military-backed dictatorship that existed before the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak. As casualties from Wednesday’s bloodbath mount into the thousands and fighting spreads, the coup is placing Egypt on a path towards civil war and mass upheavals.
● Thousands of relatives of the victims of Wednesday’s massacres flocked to morgues and mosques where the bodies of victims are being held, chanting: “The army and police are one dirty hand!”
● Health Ministry sources reported yesterday that the death toll from Wednesday’s crackdown had risen to 638, with at least 4,200 injured—more than double the initial official figures. These figures, which do not include the bodies of protesters at facilities controlled by Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB), are still substantial underestimates. Reuters reporters counted a further 228 bodies at northeast Cairo’s Al-Imam mosque alone, and the MB has issued estimates that over 2,000 were killed and 10,000 wounded in Wednesday’s crackdown.
● As the death toll rose, Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi issued a statement praising police for their “self-restraint” and justifying the massacre: “The state had to intervene to restore security and peace for Egyptians.”
Antiwar.com: Egypt Junta Defends Massacre as Toll Over 700
PressTV: Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters hold demos in Egypt - VIDEO
Pepe Escobar: ‘Bloodbath that is not a bloodbath': Why Egypt is doomed
Jason Ditz: Obama Cancels Drill, But Signals Continued Support for Egypt Junta
Robert Fisk: Cairo massacre: The Muslim Brotherhood’s silent martyrs lie soaked in blood
Peter Schwarz: German politicians, media defend the Egyptian army