23 dead, 150 wounded in clashes between Christian Copts and police in Cairo
Christian Copts angry over an attack on a church clashed with military police in Cairo on Sunday night. 23 people are dead and 150 are wounded. Christians protesting against an attack on a church threw rocks and petrol bombs and set cars on fire, as thick smoke wafted through the streets in some of the most violent scenes since an uprising ousted ex-president Hosni Mubarak in February.Read the whole thing.
Hundreds from both sides fought with sticks on a Cairo bridge. Protests later spread to the central Tahrir Square, the focal point of the February uprising. Witnesses said the army had moved into the area.
State television and sources said 150 people were injured, without saying how many of them were protesters. It had previously said three of those killed were soldiers.
Tensions between Christians and Muslims have increased since the February uprising. The latest violence comes just weeks before a parliamentary election on Nov. 28, the first such vote since Mubarak was ousted.
Egypt's government has appealed for calm. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said he had contacted security and church authorities to contain the situation.
"The only beneficiary of these events and acts of violence are the enemies of the January revolution and the enemies of the Egyptian people, both Muslim and Christian," he said on his Facebook page.
Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's roughly 80 million people, took to the streets after blaming Muslim radicals for partially demolishing a church in Aswan province last week.
They also demanded the sacking of the province's governor for failing to protect the building.
Labels: Cairo, Christian Copts, Egyptian Revolution
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:52 AM
1 Comments:
On Sandmonkey's twitter feed,
Hmmm... @sandmonkey's twitterfeed look like he thinks it was a sit-in by the Copts (because of the recent church burnings, etc.) and then they were attacked by who knows what other Egyptian Muslim group. Apparently, the army joined in an ran over a bunch of Copts with their tanks (!). And then when they took the injured Copts to the hospital, other people attacked them there, too. WAY TO GO OBAMA TEAM! Lovin' the Arab Spring!!! These Obama people are on the side of something we have no idea about. They're for sure not on the side of people who want to raise their children and earn a living.
Sandmonkey Mahmoud Salem
If anyone believes what state tv said: that the christians attacked the army or burned shit, then u r gullible beyond equal.
adhamhafez Adham Hafez
by Sandmonkey
Hossam Bahgat: what happened today is unprecedented in Egypt. 17 corpses crushed by tanks. #Copts #tahrir #maspiro #massira
4 hours ago
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