Health Ministry: 42 dead in violence in Egyptian capital

At least 42 people were killed Monday in clashes outside a military facility in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the Health Ministry told Xinhua. The dead were supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) said in a statement, accusing the security forces of firing at the protesters earlier in the day outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard in Cairo's Nasr City, at which Morsi is reportedly detained. However, the army said they were only responding after being attacked. "Morsi's supporters were praying while the police and army fired live rounds and tear gas at them," said the MB, from which Morsi hails. For its part, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the MB, said the incident was a "human massacre" against peaceful citizens who protest against "a military coup" which ousted the elected president last week. On Wednesday, the army ousted Morsi after millions of people took to the streets to protest against the Islamist-oriented president's "poor performance" since he came to power a year ago. The FJP then urged for "an uprising by the great people of Egypt against those trying to steal their revolution with tanks." However, state-run Nile TV quoted a source close to the army as saying that there was video footage recorded by soldiers showing that it was the supporters of Morsi who attacked them first, and they were forced to fire back under the threat of murder. "We managed to flee, after being attacked by Morsi's supporters with weapons," one of the soldiers said, adding "they forced us to use the loudspeaker to insult the army in word." Earlier, at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), the armed forces said in an official statement that a terrorist armed group had attempted to break into the Republican Guard headquarters. The group attacked that armed forces and civilians, leaving one officer dead and 40 recruits wounded, six of whom in serious condition, said the army. The armed forces have managed to arrest some 200 people, and found huge quantities of ammunition, weapons and Molotov cockatiels in their possession. The armed forces in its statement also called on citizens not to assault the military units or other state institutions.