Egyptian security forces have attacked anti-government protests in several cities across the country, killing at least one protester and injuring several others.
Government forces used tear gas and birdshot to break up Friday protests in the cities of Cairo and Fayoum as well as the northern province of Sharqiya.
Egyptian security forces also arrested a number of protesters.
Earlier on Thursday, at least six protesters were killed, dozens wounded and over seventy others arrested during clashes between the police and protesters who were rallying against the military overthrow of former president, Mohamed Morsi, back in July 2013.
Latest figures show Egypt’s military-backed government has jailed nearly 16,000 people since July 2013.
The United Nations Human Rights Council recently expressed concern over the Egyptian security forces’ heavy-handed crackdown and the killing of peaceful anti-government protesters.
Rights groups say at least 1,400 people have been killed in the political violence since the ouster of Morsi, “most of them due to excessive force used by security forces.”
Anti-government demonstrators have been holding rallies almost on a daily basis since the army toppled Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president. The demonstrators demand that Morsi be reinstated.
ASH/SS
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