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CAIRO — Soldiers and police officers fired on hundreds of supporters of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s ousted Islamist president, as they prayed before dawn on Monday during a protest outside the facility where he is believed to be detained, sharply escalating the nearly week-old crisis convulsing the country and further dimming any hope for a political reconciliation.
CAIRO — The mass shooting of Islamist protesters by security forces at a sit-in for ousted President Mohamed Morsi on Monday injected new outrage into the standoff over his removal by Egypt’s top generals, darkening hopes that they might reconcile the polarizing forces that have torn at the fabric of the country.
At least 51 civilian demonstrators were killed and more than 300 were wounded, all or almost all of them by gunfire, health officials said. Dozens of witnesses said the soldiers and police officers had opened fire unprovoked, an assertion that was immediately challenged by the military authorities.
It was by far the deadliest day of violence since the revolt that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011. Within a few hours around dawn, advancing soldiers and police officers killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 400, almost all hit by gunfire, health officials said.
Spokesmen for the army and the police said in a news conference held to defend their use of deadly force that they were attacked first, and that two soldiers and two policemen had also been killed, although witnesses said one of the policemen was killed by a soldier’s gunfire.
Army and police spokesmen said that one soldier and two policemen also had been killed. But witnesses and video footage said one of the policemen appeared to have been shot by soldiers, and the military provided little evidence to back its claim that the fighting had been instigated by the Islamists.
It was by far the deadliest violence here since the final days of President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011 when his riot police fought their last stand against the protesters demanding his ouster.
The scale and nature of the killings drove a deeper wedge between Mr. Morsi’s Islamist backers and their opponents, and diminished the chances that his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood might soon be coaxed back into a political process that they deem illegitimate after the military overthrew the elected president.
But whereas that battle signaled the fall of a dictator, the significance of Monday’s carnage was as bitterly contested as the future of Egypt has now become since military commanders deposed Mr. Morsi last Wednesday after one year in office.
At the same time, the bloodshed sharpened a fierce debate about whether the new military-led interim government that replaced Mr. Morsi last week was moving toward a democracy or away from it. Two and a half years after the overthrow of Mr. Mubarak, the institutions, tactics and dynamics of the decades-old secular-authoritarian government seemed, at least for the moment, to snap back into place.
Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters said that the generals had now shown their authoritarian colors, using lethal force to crush dissent while holding captive the freely elected president, and his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood renewed vows to die before accepting that outcome.
Some who vehemently denounced Mr. Mubarak’s use of brute force to silence critics were far more tepid about criticizing the killings of Mr. Morsi’s supporters, calling only for an inquiry to determine the root cause. The United States, which has conspicuously not condemned Mr. Morsi’s ouster, was also mild, calling on security forces to exercise restraint.
The only Islamist party that had broken with the Brotherhood to back the military takeover called it a “massacre” and suspended its participation in the interim government, accelerating the disintegration of Egyptian politics into a culture war between Islamists and their foes.
“Violence begets violence and should be strongly condemned,” Mohamed ElBaradei, the former diplomat and liberal leader, said in a statement on Twitter. “Independent investigation is a must.”
The armed forces, on the other hand, claimed that Mr. Morsi’s supporters had attacked them first with rocks, gunfire, and army-issue tear gas bombs, though dozens of witnesses — including some of Mr. Morsi’s opponents — disputed that account.
By contrast, Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood leader, called the killings “an outright massacre” by “a fascist coup government.”
The police, who had never fully accepted Mr. Morsi’s authority, claimed vindication, charging that Mr. Morsi’s Islamist allies, and not the police, were the ones who had killed protesters during the revolt against Mr. Mubarak.
Leaders of the Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest Islamist group and best-organized political force, said the generals had now shown their authoritarian colors, using lethal weapons to crush dissent while holding the freely elected president captive. They called for a national “uprising” against the return of a military dictatorship.
And civilian leaders of the coalition that backed Mr. Morsi’s ouster, including many who spent 2012 denouncing military rule, said little about the disproportionate force used by the army and police. “Violence begets violence and should be strongly condemned,” Mohamed ElBaradei, the former diplomat and liberal leader, said in statement on Twitter. “Independent investigation is a must.”
Al Nour, the only Islamist party that had backed the military’s takeover, suspended its participation in the interim government, accelerating the disintegration of Egyptian politics toward a culture war between Islamists and their foes.
The United States government joined international expressions of shock and dismay at the violence. But the Obama administration, which provides $1.5 billion a year in aid to Egypt, mostly for the military, gave no indication that it would terminate the assistance. Nor did the administration specifically blame one side or the other for the killings.
The armed forces, on the other hand, claimed that Mr. Morsi’s supporters had attacked them first with rocks, gunfire and army-issued tear gas bombs, though dozens of witnesses — including some of Mr. Morsi’s opponents — disputed that account.
“This is a situation where it’s very volatile on the ground. There are lots of parties contributing to that volatility,” Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, told reporters in Washington. “We have been urging and continue to urge both publicly and privately the military to use maximum restraint in how they’re behaving.”
At a news conference, Ahmed Ali, a military spokesman, said the security forces had responded with rubber bullets and gas bombs after coming under attack by heavy gunfire. He addressed a pointed question about human rights to Western critics: “What human rights are there for an armed person who terrorizes citizens and attacks military establishments?”
All agree that the violence began shortly before 4 a.m., when the Islamists who had gathered in a vigil for Mr. Morsi outside the presidential guard facility were observing predawn prayers. But it was unclear what set off the violence.
The police, who had never fully accepted Mr. Morsi’s authority, reveled in the day and sought to revise history: a spokesman charged that the Muslim Brotherhood — and not the police — had been responsible for killing protesters during the revolt against Mr. Mubarak. “Policemen never thought that history would speak so quickly to prove the complete innocence of the policemen in the events of the January 2011 revolution,” said the spokesman, Hany Abdel Lateef.
In addition to the statements from the army and police spokesman, one neighbor cited by The Associated Press said in a Twitter message that the fighting had started with a barrage of tear gas by the security forces, followed by retaliation with birdshot by Mr. Morsi’s supporters. But that neighbor, identified as Mirna al-Hikbawy, also said that she had been afraid to approach her window because of the fighting, raising questions about the completeness of her account, and her postings indicated a loathing of the Muslim Brotherhood. She did not respond to efforts to contact her over the Internet.
Some also suggested that Mr. Morsi’s supporters might be to blame for the fighting.
Dozens of others, including both supporters and opponents of Mr. Morsi, said the military and police had begun firing with little or no provocation, unloading tear gas, birdshot and bullets. The Morsi supporters who were present for the attack said military gunmen had fired down on them from surrounding buildings.
“We expect violent actions from the side of the Muslim Brotherhood, and we cannot accept that armed gatherings be labeled as peaceful protests or sit-ins,” Khalid Talima, a representative of the coalition formed around the anti-Morsi protests that preceded his ouster, said at a news conference under the banner “Muslim Brotherhood-American conspiracy against the revolution.”
Video footage captured by the Islamists showed one soldier firing down from a roof while another calmly filmed the mayhem below with a video camera. Sandbag gun turrets were visible on some rooftops, and scores of bullet holes in cars, lampposts and the Islamists’ corrugated metal barriers indicated that gunfire was coming from above. Bullet casings on the ground, collected by Islamist demonstrators bore the stamp of the Egyptian Army.
Seeking to capitalize on the killing to rally supporters, the Muslim Brotherhood charged that the soldiers had killed women and children. But hospitals and morgues reported no such casualties.
The fighting past dawn, with hundreds of heavily armed soldiers chasing mostly unarmed protesters through the streets and continuing to shoot. There were bullet holes, bullet casings and pools of blood on the ground hundreds of yards from the presidential guard house where the fighting had begun.
The violence began around 4 a.m., as hundreds of Islamists were observing dawn prayers at a vigil for Mr. Morsi outside the presidential guard facility where he was believed to be detained. What set off the violence could not be determined.
Protesters, witnesses and video footage all appeared to portray the pro-Morsi demonstrators as attempting to fight back against the soldiers by throwing rocks. But two witnesses said that they had seen at least two of Mr. Morsi’s supporters armed with what the witnesses described as handguns firing birdshot. Egyptian state television showed film of a pro-Morsi demonstrator firing what appeared to be a homemade handgun at advancing soldiers from behind a corner about 250 yards away, and another man in a black mask walking with a similar gun. The footage was in daylight, hours after the initial shooting.
In addition to the official statements from the army and the police, one neighbor cited by The Associated Press said in an account posted online that she had run to a window when she heard gunfire and had seen men shooting at security forces from a mosque roof. But that neighbor, identified as Mirna al-Hikbawy, wrote that she had not seen the start of the fighting.
Early in the morning, Egyptian state media sent out a news alert saying that an army lieutenant had been killed and 200 “armed individuals” captured, then hours later reported dozens of civilian casualties.
Others, including both supporters and opponents of Mr. Morsi, said the military and the police had fired with little or no provocation, unloading tear gas, birdshot and bullets.
Ibrahim el-Sheikh, a neighbor and a relative of a New York Times employee in Cairo, said that military fire had killed one of the police officers, Mohamed el-Mesairy. He was a neighborhood policeman well known on the block and he had sought to hide in his parked car as soldiers and police chased Mr. Morsi’s supporters down the street, according to video footage. The footage showed the gunfire of the advancing soldiers and police hitting the side of the car, and the bullet holes were visible hours later.
“They opened fire on us while we were praying,” Moataz Abu al-Shakra, a 25-year-old electrical engineer, said, huddled behind a sheet of corrugated metal that Mr. Morsi’s supporters had sought to use as a shield. The metal was riddled with bullet holes, and he pointed to two pools of blood on the ground.
Mr. Sheikh, who signed a petition and joined protests for Mr. Morsi’s ouster, said he and others carried the officer’s body from his car. “He did not have a head any more,” he said.
“They opened fire on us while we were praying,” Moataz Abu al-Shakra, a 25-year-old electrical engineer among the pro-Morsi demonstrators, said of the shootings on Monday. He huddled behind a sheet of corrugated metal riddled with bullet holes that Mr. Morsi’s supporters had sought to use as a barricade — anticipating only shotgun pellets, not more powerful ammunition. “There were snipers on the roof tops,” he said.
“It is like they were fighting a war between two countries, not like our army or police,” he said. “They are criminals.”
“It is like they were fighting a war between two countries, not like our army or police,” he said. “They are criminals.”
Mohamed Farahat, 38, a teacher, said the soldiers had fired tear gas along with the bullets and rushed out to arrest dozens of fleeing demonstrators as well.
Sit-in participants said gunmen had fired on them from atop the military buildings surrounding their camp. Video footage captured by the Islamists showed a soldier firing down from a roof while another calmly filmed the mayhem below.
Gomaa Gaber, a 53-year-old mechanic with a bloodstained shirt, said he threw himself onto a younger relative, Ali Mohamed Said, 24, to try to protect him. But Mr. Said had already been shot in the chest. “He died in my arms,” Mr. Gaber said.
Sandbagged gun turrets were still visible hours later on some rooftops, and the angles of scores of bullet holes in cars, lampposts and the Islamists’ makeshift metal barriers indicated that gunfire hit at an angle from above.
Although by morning some people carried sticks or makeshift clubs, all said that the demonstrators were unarmed. Mr. Sheikh and another neighbor who opposed Mr. Morsi and supported his ouster said the same.
Many witnesses said the fighting lasted for hours, with hundreds of heavily armed soldiers chasing mostly unarmed protesters through the streets for blocks while continuing to shoot. Bullet holes, bullet casings and pools of blood dotted the ground hundreds of yards from the presidential guard house where the fighting had begun.
“Our only weapons were bottles of water and prayer rugs,” said Gamal Ali, 37, a teacher.
The pro-Morsi demonstrators attempted to fight back by throwing rocks, and they tried to build barricades against the bullets. Two witnesses said they had seen at least two of Mr. Morsi’s supporters armed with what the witnesses described as primitive shotguns. Egyptian state television showed footage of what it described as pro-Morsi fighter firing a primitive shotgun at advancing soldiers about 250 yards from the initial shooting. In another video clip on state television, another man in a black mask was seen walking with a similar weapon. Many of the videos were set in broad daylight.
The Nasr City hospital, a few minutes’ drive from the scene of the shooting, began receiving hundreds of victims around 4 a.m. and at least 40 were dead, according to Bassem al-Sayed, a surgeon. The doctor said all the victims he saw were men with gunshot wounds.
Ibrahim el-Sheikh, a neighbor and a relative of a New York Times employee in Cairo, said that one of the police officers, Mohamed el-Mesairy — cited by the police spokesman as a “martyr” — appeared to have been killed by the advancing soldiers.
The emergency wards and the intensive care unit were full of patients and distraught relatives. Near the emergency room, two dozen men lined up to donate blood.
Mr. Mesairy was a familiar neighborhood policeman who had sought to hide in his parked car as Mr. Morsi’s supporters fled past, according to Mr. Sheikh and video footage he captured from his window. The video showed the gunfire of the advancing police and soldiers hitting the side of the car, and the bullet holes were visible hours later.
Dr. Sayed said he had seen similar scenes in the hospital only once: around January 25, 2011, when Egyptians began their revolt against President Hosni Mubarak.
Mr. Sheikh, who signed a petition and joined protests for Mr. Morsi’s ouster, said he and others carried the officer’s body from his car. “He did not have a head anymore,” he said.
“This is worse,” he said.
Gomaa Gaber, a 53-year-old mechanic with a bloodstained shirt, said he threw himself onto a younger relative, Ali Mohamed Said, 24, to protect him. But Mr. Said had already been shot in the chest. “He died in my arms,” Mr. Gaber said.
The survivors, who were shot in the head, chest or arms, or who had been hit in the face by birdshot pellets, all told roughly the same story. They were attacked without warning with tear gas and gunfire near the end of morning prayers. Some said that soldiers and police officers attacked from opposite sides. Others said that because of the dark, they could not identify the security branch of the attackers.
At the Nasr City hospital, a few minutes’ drive from initial shooting, Dr. Bassem al-Sayed, a surgeon, said he had seen a similar scene only once before, around Jan. 25, 2011, when Egyptians began their revolt against President Mubarak. “This is worse,” he said.
“We were praying,” said Mahmoud Gomaa Ahmed, 33, who was wounded in the chest. “Before the prayer, nothing had happened at all,” he said. “There was no one,” Mr. Ahmed said.
At the news conference, the military spokesman showed video footage of handguns, tear gas grenades and bottles of whiskey he said the soldiers had found in the Islamists’ tents.
Mahmoud Mabrouk, 42, who was shot in his right arm, said the first rounds were intended to kill. “It wasn’t for the sake of dispersing us,” he said.
As the conference began, a crowd of Egyptian journalists demanded that the Al Jazeera television crew leave. Most Egyptian journalists in both the state and private media believe that Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab network owned by the government of Qatar, sympathizes with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Some in the Muslim Brotherhood, rallying their tens of thousands of Mr. Morsi’s supporters nearby, charged that the soldiers had killed numerous women and children. But the hospital and morgue reported no such casualties.
“We are in Egypt, the country of democracy,” Mr. Abdel Lateef, the police spokesman, said to raucous cheers as the crew left.
At the news conference defending the use of deadly force, a military spokesman said that the advancing soldiers had confiscated handguns, American-made tear gas grenades sold to the Egyptian army, and bottles of whiskey in the Islamists camp.
Mr. Ali, the military spokesman, raised alarms about the Arab Spring itself — heresy here just a few months ago.
As the news conference began, a crowd of Egyptian journalists jeered until the Al Jazeera television crew was forced to leave the room. Most Egyptian journalists in both the state and private media take a dim view of the Muslim Brotherhood, and they believe that the Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab network owned by the government of Qatar, has sympathized with the group.
He called Islamist charges the military had massacred demonstrators a new kind of “information warfare” that “runs through the Middle East region and we see since the breaking of the Arab Spring revolutions.”
At the end of the news conference, the military spokesman, Ahmed Ali, appeared to raise alarms about the Arab spring revolts that have shaken the region’s old authoritarian governments — something that would have been deemed scandalous here just a few months ago.
“They’re all wars against the state by its own citizens,” he said, “and the main weapon in these wars is the circulation of strife, rumors and lies.”
Responding to the Islamist charges that the military had massacred demonstrators, he warned of new kinds of “information warfare” that “run through the Middle East region and we see them since the breaking of the Arab Spring revolutions.”
Reporting
was contributed by Ben Hubbard, Mayy El Sheikh, Asmaa Al Zohairy and Sarah Mousa from Cairo, and Rick Gladstone from New York.
“They’re all wars against the state by its own citizens, and the main weapon in these wars is the circulation of strife, rumors and lies,” he said. “I’m only trying to educate the Egyptian citizens about what’s known as the ‘new wars’ of ‘destroy your own self’ which will not be allowed in Egypt, God willing.”
Ben Hubbard, Mayy El Sheikh and Asmaa Al Zohairy contributed reporting from Cairo, and Rick Gladstone from New York.
