Two killed in Fayoum protests, Minya bombing leaves no casualties

Two people were killed in Fayoum on Friday during clashes between protesters and area residents, reported the state-owned news site EgyNews. Three others reportedly sustained injuries in the violence.

Civilians and protesters also clashed in Daqahliya, where both sides lobbied rocks at each other and reportedly fired birdshot in the skirmishes.

The violence marked another Friday of unrest as security forces and civilians alike confronted demonstrators identified as supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.  Dozens were detained in the incidents, though the Interior Ministry said the protests were smaller in scale and less pervasive than in previous weeks.

Since the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi and his Brotherhood administration last July, demonstrators have taken to the streets almost every Friday to protest against the Armed Forces-backed interim government.

Earlier in the day, residents of Fayoum’s Kawady village squared off against purported pro-Brotherhood demonstrators by dousing them with hot water from the rooftops, in an attempt to disperse the protest before the arrival of security forces, the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

Protesters in the governorate took to the streets after Friday prayers to demand the release of thousands of political detainees and condemn ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s presidential bid.

The situation in Fayoum has grown increasingly tense over the past several weeks. Last Friday, two Armed Forces checkpoints by the Fayoum stadium were the target of a homemade bomb.

Another homemade bomb reportedly exploded near an officers’ rest area at the main Security Forces Center in Minya on Friday, according to EgyNews. No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.

The device was detonated on the road that security forces were planning to take en route to dispersing nearby protests, according to a security source. The Interior Ministry said the authorities combed the area to ensure that no other bombs had been planted.

Bombings targeting police and army personnel have become almost commonplace in the aftermath of Morsi’s ouster. Militant groups such as the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdes and the recently formed Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) have claimed responsibility for several recent attacks.

In anticipation of the violence, Minya authorities had heightened security around the courts complex earlier in the day and sealed off some major roads around the police station and security directorate.

Dar al-Ifta, Egypt’s official religious institution tasked with drafting edicts, denied late Thursday that it had issued a final ruling on the death sentence handed down by the Minya Criminal Court to 529 defendants identified as Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

In an attempt to prevent similar incidents in the nation’s capital, Tahrir Square was sealed off to traffic by army tanks on Friday, and the metal gates leading to Qasr al-Aini Street were locked for the day.  Protests were organized in several areas of Giza, eliciting a hefty Armed Forces presence around police stations, the security directorate and main thoroughfares, such as the bridge by Cairo University and around the Ring Road.

But despite the beefed up security presence, violence erupted elsewhere in Cairo when Al-Azhar University students demonstrated in the eastern Nasr City neighborhood against police interference on university campuses, MENA reported.

Security forces reportedly fired warning shots in the air to disperse the students’ blockade of a main road. The demonstrators, who were described as Brotherhood supporters, threw stones in retaliation.

The situation was tenser in Alexandria. The coastal city witnessed the dispersal of three separate protests by military and police forces, who fired volleys of tear gas and arrested ten demonstrators, according to an Interior Ministry statement.

However, a demonstration of Sisi supporters held in front of Alexandria’s Al-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque — the site of some of the deadliest clashes between protesters and security forces there since the 2011 revolution — was allowed to proceed without interference. The crowd had gathered to support the former defense minister’s presidential campaign, MENA reported.

Security forces chased demonstrators in Beni Suef down the streets of the Al-Fash area and arresting five people. The demonstrators were brandishing Morsi posters and signs bearing the black and yellow insignia commemorating the dispersal of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in.

The Interior Ministry did not confirm the arrests, however.

In Kafr al-Sheikh, a slightly more celebratory mood prevailed. Four protests, marches and a marathon were organized there on Friday.