Agence France
Presse CAIRO: Egyptian police arrested 516 supporters of the blacklisted Muslim
Brotherhood during violence that erupted as the country marked the fourth anniversary of its January
25 uprising, the interior minister said Monday.
"Yesterday, we arrested 516
elements from the Muslim Brotherhood group who were involved in firing ammunition, planting
explosives and bombing some facilities," Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim told a press conference
in Cairo.
The authorities have engaged in a bloody crackdown targeting the
Muslim Brotherhood since former army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted his
predecessor, Mohammad Morsi, in July 2013.
Rights groups such as Human
Rights Watch have repeatedly accused the security forces of unleashing "excessive force" while
dispersing demonstrations backing Morsi, who belongs to the
Brotherhood.
Ibrahim said 20 people were killed Sunday in clashes that
erupted between security forces and Islamist protesters.
He said most of
the victims were in Cairo's northern district of Matareya where clashes lasted for more than 12
hours, adding that those killed included two policemen.
HRW slams police after revolt anniversary bloodshed
CAIRO: Human Rights Watch Monday accused Egyptian police of using "excessive force" against protesters after 20 people were killed in clashes on the fourth anniversary of its 2011 uprising.
The clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo and the coastal city of Alexandria Sunday came after Islamists called for demonstrations against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government.
At least 19 protesters, mostly Islamist supporters of Mohammad Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president who was ousted by then army chief Sisi in July 2013, and a policeman were killed, a health ministry official said.
The Cairo violence accounted for all but one death, that of a demonstrator in Alexandria.
Late Sunday, officials had put the death toll at 15, including the policeman who was shot dead during clashes in a northern Cairo district.
"Four years after Egypt's revolution, police are still killing protesters on a regular basis," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director of Human Right Watch.
The New York-based HRW called for "an independent investigation into the authorities' excessive use of force" to quell "apparently peaceful protests."
Tensions had surged ahead of the anniversary, and a female demonstrator was killed in clashes with police during a rare leftwing protest in Cairo on Saturday.
Shaima al-Sabbagh died of birdshot wounds when police fired to disperse a march, fellow protesters and HRW said.
An 18-year-old female protester was also killed on Friday in clashes in Alexandria.
Egypt has been gripped by political turmoil since the 2011 uprising which toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak and by violent unrest since his successor Morsi was ousted.
Sisi has since led a crackdown on Morsi's supporters that has left hundreds dead, thousands in jail and dozens sentenced to death.
After a landslide presidential election victory last May, Sisi has been regularly accused by activists and rights groups of installing a regime that is more repressive than Mubarak's.
His supporters deny the allegations, pointing to his popularity among a large section of Egypt's population weary of four years of turmoil and economic crisis.
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