Security keeps tight grip on pro-Morsi protesters

 Clashes in Cairo between supporters and opponents of Mohammed Morsi Clashes between supporters and opponents of former presidents Mohammed Morsi in Shubra in north Cairo have left more than ten injured, eyewitnesses told Arab Today. Further witnesses told AFP that the clashes erupted early afternoon.
Live footage on satellite station ONTV showed crowds throwing rocks at each other in the neighbourhood.
Morsi's supporters and backers of the military that overthrew him on July 3 are both staging rival rallies across Egypt.
Witnesses said the clashes in Cairo began after Morsi's opponents, who rallied at the behest of the military, burned posters of the ousted Islamist leader.
It comes after security sources said the central security base in Ahrash in Rafah, Sinai was attacked with both light and heavy weapons by an unknown armed militia at dawn on Friday.
Forces fired at the retreating attackers but no-one was injured, according to the sources.
Eyewitnesses in Ahrash told local news reporters that armed men shot at the ?base and two explosives from RPG missiles were heard after dawn prayers. The clashes between the two sides ?lasted for just minutes, before the attackers escaped.?
Egypt’s armed forces are in a state of maximum alert in preparation for any unrest, sources told Arab Today.
The police and military are carrying out a major joint operation, with around 300,000 police officers and soldiers deployed throughout the country.
Security sources claim to have received information about plans by Morsi supporters to burn government facilities, to clash with protesters in Tahrir Square and Ittihadiya, and an attempt to provoke the army.
The sources said the security plan to surround the pro-Morsi protests in Rabaa el-Adaweya and al-Nahda Square in Giza and other locations to control their movements and guarantee that no weapons enter or exit the areas, in addition to using air patrols to monitor protesters’ movements.
The army is also imposing checkpoints at the entrances and exits of all areas of Egypt, each comprising of two tanks, three armoured vehicles and ten officers or soldiers, the sources added.
The sources said an “iron fist” operation was also underway to impose total control over Sinai, the canal cities, and the Suez canal in order to paralyse any terrorist activities.


Additional reporting: AFP