CAIRO: In a shocking display of violence, clashing took place near Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the center of Egypt's capital, Cairo, on Sunday as thousands took to the streets to mourn the four Christians killed the day before in sectarian violence. One Muslim man was also killed in the violence that took place in the northern village of Khusus after the opposing sides opened fire on each other. Carrying wooden crosses and chanting religious slogans, the mourners demanded justice and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime, the state news agency MENA reported. But confrontations then erupted in Ramsis Street outside the Cathedral with mourners and assailants clashing and some mourners cutting off the road. Rubber bullets, live rounds and teargas were heard and seen by the cathedral, but their source is yet to be determined. The violence is the latest sectarian confrontation in Egypt, which has seen a rise in Christian-Muslim violence over the past two years since the downfall of former President Hosni Mubarak and the rise of the ultra-conservative Salafists and the current Muslim Brotherhood government. BN
