CAIRO, Aug 14 (AFP): Sporadic skirmishes erupted in Egypt Thursday as police quashed attempts by supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to stage rallies marking the first anniversary of a brutal Cairo crackdown.
On August 14, 2013, after then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had removed Egypt's first freely elected president, the security forces cracked down on thousands of Morsi supporters at protest camps in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares, leaving hundreds of people dead.
The assault was "one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history", the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report released ahead of Thursday's anniversary.
In Rabaa al-Adawiya alone, at least 817 people were killed, it said, calling for top officials to be investigated for likely "crimes against humanity".
Official estimates say more than 700 people were killed at the two squares on that day.
On Thursday, attempts by Morsi supporters to demonstrate were swiftly suppressed, reflecting their dwindling ability to stage protests amid a brutal crackdown that has left more than 1,400 people dead since Morsi's ouster in July 2013.
The pro-Morsi Anti-Coup Alliance had called for nationwide rallies on Thursday under the slogan "We Demand Retribution".
Sporadic skirmishes in Egypt on crackdown anniversary
FE Team | Published: August 15, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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