A wounded protester lies on the ground as Egyptian security forces clear the smaller of the two sit-ins by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, near the Cairo University campus in Giza, Cairo, Egypt, Aug. 14, 2013. Egyptian s
(VOA NEWS) Edward Yeranian, CAIRO — The Egyptian army says an operation to clear two sit-in protest camps of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Cairo is almost over, amid conflicting reports on the number of casualties.
The Ministry of Health reported 149 deaths and over 1,400 wounded while the Brotherhood said the toll is much higher. A month-long state of emergency with a nation-wide curfew has been ordered, and the interim president’s office has authorized the army to help the police enforce security.
Egypt’s interim vice president, pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei, resigned, saying he could not bear responsibility for decisions he “does not agree with and whose consequences” he fears.
Violent clashes spread across Cairo and many parts of Egypt, after government security forces moved to disperse Muslim Brotherhood supporters at two protest camps in the capital. The two sit-ins began more than 40 days ago, after the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
Security forces succeeded quickly in breaking up the second and smaller of the two sit-ins near Cairo University, arresting dozens of people. Bulldozers cleared bricks and sandbags from the street, as soldiers knocked down tents and set fire to political posters.
At the largest sit-in near the Raba’a Adawiya Mosque in northern Cairo, police and army troops fired tear gas and pushed into parts of the sprawling square. Fires burned inside the camp and clouds of tear gas filled the air. Several top Muslim Brotherhood leaders were reportedly arrested.
Amid the widening conflict, the leader of Egypt’s venerable al-Azhar University, Sheikh Ahmed Tayyeb, urged everyone to avoid violence and political leaders to sit down at the negotiating table.
He said violence will never be a solution to the conflict and urges everyone to use wisdom and common sense to find a political solution. He adds that he was not informed of the decision to storm the sit-ins.
Violence and vandalism also struck other parts of Egypt as Muslim Brotherhood supporters ransacked and burned the provincial governor’s office in Alexandria and government headquarters in Fayyoum. Al-Arabiya TV reported four churches were torched in the south of the country.
A rival Islamist group to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafi Nour Party, urged Egyptians to “stop attacking government buildings and churches.” The Nour Party has refused to join the interim government, but has criticized the Muslim Brotherhood for not participating in the political process since the ouster of Morsi.
