Six dead as protests erupt across Egypt

Six people were killed Friday and 190 people injured in nationwide clashes, according to the Health Ministry tally, as Muslim Brotherhood supporters staged protests across the country.

Police forces started dispersing a protest in Mohandiseen, as they stayed after the 7:00 pm curfew despite security warnings, local television channels showed.

Heavy gunfire was heard in the area, as military helicopters flew over it. Eyewitnesses said the police were also firing tear gas.

Security forces have reportedly issued warnings through loudspeakers ahead of the curfew, asking protesters to leave the area on time.

Meanwhile, the Ahrar Movement, which rejects military, Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of Hosni Mubarak’s rule, claimed that six of its members were killed Friday in clashes with security forces in Sphinx Square.

Mohamed Gamal, an eyewitness to the clashes, told Mada Masr that army forces attempted to disperse the Ahrar protest in the square using teargas as protesters’ numbers swelled around the square following Friday Prayers.

Gamal said protesters regrouped and marched around the area for three hours, finally reaching the 26^th of July axis in Lebanon Square which was blocked by police and army forces.

Police forces then advanced towards the protesters in armored vehicles, Gamal said, firing live ammunition and killing six people.

Muslim Brotherhood supporters also staged demonstrations in Mohandiseen as part of a nationwide Muslim Brotherhood protest countering the military's ouster of President Mohamed Morsi and the arrest of Brotherhood leaders. Supporters of Morsi and the Brotherhood took to the streets in various parts of Cairo and Giza amid heightened security.

Earlier in the day, clashes broke out between protesters and residents of Giza near the Istiqama Mosque as the former attempted to march following Friday Prayers, according to MENA

Gunfire was also heard on Ahmed Orabi Street in Mohandiseen, as protesters attempted to make their way to Sphinx Square, Al-Ahram reported.

Police and army forces sealed off the street as well as the May 15 Bridge, where gunfire had erupted on August 16 amid protests by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Army forces also blocked off Merghany Street leading to the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace amid reports that a pro-Morsi march is headed there.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters made their way through Nasr City and Heliopolis wearing shirts bearing the Rabea al-Adaweya symbol, and calling for the reinstatement of Morsi.

Earlier on Friday, a police officer and passerby were killed in a drive-by shooting in Cairo on, the state-run Al-Ahram reported, as the protests kicked off across the country.

A security source at the Ministry of Interior said that unknown assailants in two cars opened fire on the Nozha Police Station in Heliopolis, killing one police officer and a passerby, and injuring another policeman.

In Port Said, a conscript was also killed and two others injured when masked gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint before driving off on a motorcycle.  

Protests also erupted in Alexandria, Assiut and Gharbeya. 

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy had called for mass protests on Friday to put an end to what they describe as a military coup and to achieve the revolution’s goals, amid warnings from the Interior Ministry that it may use live ammunition to contain any acts of violence against public, religious, or police facilities.