It happened. Security forces stormed the two sit-ins of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi yesterday. A high death toll is expected, and so is a state of turmoil across the nation as the Muslim Brotherhood supporters retaliate. The presidency declared a one-month state of emergency starting 4pm on Wednesday as the scene turned more chaotic. Officials hinted that a curfew might be imposed if necessary. Egyptians, whether pro-Morsi or against, are in despair and are afraid, grieving for the dead on both sides, and fearful of more bloodshed to come and complete mayhem. Protesters had defied numerous ultimatums by authorities and the interim government to end their sit-ins in Nasr City's Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Giza's Nahda Square. Several bids by the United States, the European Union and Gulf Arab states to reconcile the two sides in an inclusive political process failed, with the Brotherhood insisting that Morsi must first be freed and reinstated along with several of the group's leaders who have been detained in connection to incitement of violence. There was no independent confirmation of the casualties. According to the official numbers announced by the Ministry of Health and until Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, the death toll reached 95 and more than 1,000 injured from both sides nationwide, with the figures bound to increase. According to the Muslim Brotherhood, more than 300 were killed and 5,000 injured. Among the dead is Asmaa, the daughter of a top leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Khairat Al-Shater, and Hafsa, the daughter of another official, Mohamed Al-Beltagui. The Nahda Square sit-in, the smaller of the two camps, was dispersed in less than two hours after which the security forces had “total control”. Until the Weekly went to print, the Rabaa sit-in was yet to be cleared. However, a security official told the media that it was a matter of “an hour”. Other than those killed and injured, dozens of Morsi supporters have been arrested. Unconfirmed reports stated the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leaders Safwat Hegazi and Essam Al-Erian who were in the Rabaa sit-in. Families with their children were allowed to leave the sites unharmed. Security forces started their raids at about 7am yesterday firing tear gas into the Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Nahda sit-ins, sparking pandemonium among the thousands of pro-Morsi supporters. News and eyewitness accounts varied on who started shooting with live ammunition, but television footage showed both sides using arms. Police officials say they used live bullets only when Morsi supporters shot at them. “It is not to our advantage to increase the death toll,” said one police official. Live footage showed Morsi supporters hurling stones and using guns against the security forces. Army troops did not take part in the two operations, but provided security at the locations with tanks and helicopters hovering over both sites. Soon after the police launched the crackdown, angry Morsi supporters blockaded some streets of the capital and set tyres ablaze, sending black smoke billowing across the sky and bringing the country to a standstill. Churches in Upper Egypt were torched by Morsi supporters. Assailants threw firebombs at Mar Girgis Church in Sohag, and two other churches in Minya were damaged by fire. The Coptic Orthodox Church supported Morsi's removal and Pope Tawadros II appeared alongside army chief General Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi on 3 July when the latter announced Morsi had been deposed. Several police stations and government buildings across the nation were besieged. At least nine people were killed in Fayoum, south of Cairo, following fighting at police stations. Moreover, hundreds of Islamists took to the streets in Cairo's Heliopolis, Maadi, Helwan and Giza spreading havoc as police chased them away. The Muslim Brotherhood urged Egyptians to take to the streets in their thousands to denounce the “massacre”. “This is not an attempt to disperse, but a bloody attempt to crush all voices of opposition to the military coup,” Brotherhood spokesman Gehad Al-Haddad said on Twitter. The Rabaa Al-Adaweya protest camp, where several Brotherhood leaders have been staying, “is calling on Egyptians to take to the streets to stop the massacre,” Haddad said. Railway authorities announced that all train services had been stopped to prevent protesters from moving outside of Cairo and re-assembling. The Central Bank instructed commercial banks to close branches in areas of violence. The Ministry of Antiquities also ordered the site of the Giza Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum closed to visitors. In the early hours of Wednesday, Al-Beltagui called on the police and army troops to mutiny against their commanders and on Egyptians to take to the streets to show their disapproval of Wednesday's raids on the sit-ins. “Oh, Egyptian people, your brothers are in the square... Are you going to remain silent until the genocide is completed?” asked Al-Beltagui. Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, in a televised address, distanced the prestigious institution from the crackdown and expressed his sorrow, saying violence and bloodshed should not be an alternative to political solutions and called upon all conflicting parties to listen to the voice of reason. The Muslim Brotherhood had rejected Al-Azhar's initiative to defuse the political deadlock and said that Al-Tayeb cannot be trusted. Wednesday's attacks on the two pro-Morsi camps were the latest chapter in Egypt's turmoil that is likely to deepen the nation's division between the Islamists' camp led by the Muslim Brotherhood on one side, and seculars, liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians on the other. In a televised statement, the cabinet urged supporters of Morsi to “listen to the voice of reason” and halt violence, praising the security forces for showing self-restraint while breaking up the protest camps. The European Union said on Wednesday that reports that protesters had been killed in the security forces crackdown were “extremely worrying” and called for restraint from Egyptian authorities. “The reports of deaths and injuries are extremely worrying,” Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said. “We reiterate that violence won't lead to any solution and we urge the Egyptian authorities to proceed with the utmost restraint.” At the same time, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the UN Security Council and the Arab League “to act to stop Egypt's massacre”. Iranian officials said, “Iran is following the bitter events in Egypt closely, disapproves of the violent actions, condemns the massacre of the population and warns of serious consequences.” Observers believe that the crackdown dampens the hopes of the Muslim Brotherhood returning to the political mainstream. Compiled by Al-Ahram Weekly staff and from news agencies
