The streets of Egypt reeked with one of the worst violence in two months when Muslim Brotherhood supporters and the police clashed killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens across the country.
According to reports, the pro-Morsi National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy spearheaded the protests ahead of Morsi’s trial on Wednesday.
The former Egyptian president and 130 of his supporters will stand trial on January 28 over a jailbreak during the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Morsi will also stand trial on espionage charges for which the dates has not been fixed.
According to Ahram Online, “Clashes continued into the night east of the capital at Gisr El-Suez Street and at the other end of the city’s outskirts at Al-Talbiya area near the pyramids, where burning tires, tear gas and stone throwing painted scenes on Egyptian television channels.”
Reportedly, protesters died in Cairo, Alexandria, the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, and other parts of Egypt, according to the Egyptian health ministry.
In Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria, hundreds of Islamists clashed with civilian opponents, using stones and birdshot.While confrontations happened in different parts of the city, police managed to disperse them.
Police fired teargas on student protestors at the Al-Azhar University, a key point of Islamist protests in recent weeks, Ahram Online reported.
Reportedly, Brotherhood supporters set fire to the Faculty of Agriculture at Al-Azhar University and damaged five administrative offices.
Media outlets provided conflicting reports on the death toll while the police said they arrested more than 120 Brotherhood supporters possessing explosives and weapons.
Following the ouster of Egypt’s first democratically-elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July, clashes between protesters and security forces during Fridays are a regular feature in the Arab world’s largest Muslim nation.
Since Morsi’s ouster last year, Brotherhood supporters have staged near-daily protests calling for his reinstatement, especially after Friday prayers.
Thousands of Morsi supporters, especially Islamists died in street clashes and thousands have been imprisoned.
The interim government that is working on a constitutional referendum has branded the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in December. Muslim Brotherhood and other pro-Morsi groups reject the new constitution, which was amended after his ouster.
The government has also banned any form of protests in Egypt. Reportedly the Interior ministry warned that participation in pro-Brotherhood protests could lead to five years in jail, while protest leaders are subject to the death penalty.
The renewed violence and blood spill on Egyptian streets is the latest blow to the military-backed government, which is trying to impose stability barely 10 days before Egyptians are set to vote on a draft constitution.
Six months after Morsi’s ouster and the reinstatement of a caretaker government the spiralling civil conflict between Morsi supporters and the government appears to have reached another peak.
Reportedly the success of the planned constitutional referendum is viewed by the interim government as the opportunity to marginalize the Brotherhood with a public show of support for the government-sponsored charter.
Despite the massive government-crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, their resilience and the ability to mobilise protests remains intact.
The movement has been relying on students to sustain momentum against what it considers as the “putschist regime” governing Egypt.
*Sources linked to within text.