Health Ministry raises Friday death toll to four

Four people died in Friday’s violent clashes across Egypt, according to a statement released early Saturday by the Health Ministry.

Three were killed in Suez, where the worst clashes occurred between security forces and protesters, and one in Alexandria.

The Suez general prosecution office transferred the three cases to the coroner’s office for autopsies.

State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported that the Alexandria resident was shot to death by Brotherhood-affiliated protesters, who began firing live ammunition after being assaulted by local residents. However, the official website of the Brotherhood’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, claimed the victim was a bystander who was accidentally shot by police forces as they aimed fire at the protesters.

Fifteen people were also injured during clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Minya, Sharqiya and Beni Suef on Friday, the ministry said. More than 160 were arrested in the day’s violence, according to the official Middle East News Agency.

Friday’s protests were part of week-long demonstrations organized by the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, an umbrella group the includes members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as deposed President Mohamed Morsi.

The Muslim Brotherhood was declared a terrorist organization by Egypt’s Cabinet on December 25. Subsequent decisions based on Article 86 of the Penal Code make participating in a Brotherhood protest a crime punishable with five years in prison.

The National Alliance had called for protests against what it calls the “void referendum” on the draft constitution scheduled for January 14 and 15.

In Cairo, security forces dispersed protests in Nasr City, Shubra, Omraneya, Imbaba, Zeitoun and Haram.