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Death toll rises as unrest continues

Published:Tuesday | July 9, 2013 | 12:00 AM
An injured man is brought to a makeshift hospital after Egyptian soldiers and police opened fire on supporters of the ousted President Mohammed Morsi early Monday in Cairo, Egypt. The violence left dozens people killed outside the Republican Guard military building in Cairo where demonstrators had been holding a sit-in, government officials and witnesses said. AP

CAIRO (AP):

Egyptian soldiers and police clashed with Islamists, protesting the military's ouster of the president in bloodshed that left at least 51 protesters and three members of the security forces dead, officials and witnesses said, and plunged the divided country deeper into crisis with calls by the Muslim Brotherhood's political party for all-out rebellion against the army.

The carnage outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo, where toppled President Mohammed Morsi was first held last week, marked the single biggest death toll since massive protests forced Morsi's government from power and brought in an interim civilian administration.

Even before all the bodies were counted, there were conflicting accounts on how the violence began. The pro-Morsi protesters said the troops attacked their encampment without provocation just after they had performed dawn prayers. The military said it came under a heavy assault first by gunmen who killed an army officer and two policemen, though its account of the events left many questions unanswered.