The death toll from clashes between supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohamed Morsi and police forces has risen to 51 as violence rages on in the North African country.

Supporters of Morsi, who was overthrown in a July military coup, tried to gather in iconic Liberation Square in the capital Cairo when police confronted them.

According to Ahmed al-Ansari, a top official of Egypt’s Health Ministry, at least 45 people died in Cairo and several others lost their lives south of the capital.

Nearly 270 people were also reported to be injured in clashes across Egypt.

Ansari added that “majority of the deaths were caused by bullets and birdshots.”

Police also fired shots and used teargas to disperse protesters in central Cairo.

A statement by the Egyptian Interior Ministry said police arrested 423 protesters in the capital.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Coup Alliance, which includes Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, has called for more protests this week and urged students across universities and schools in Egypt to protest on Tuesday against what it called the “continuing massacres.”


“The alliance holds coup authorities and the military-appointed government fully responsible for all the blood of Egyptians being spilt right now, and for every Egyptian killed on this day,” the alliance said in a statement.

On Friday, thousands of Muslim Brotherhood activists and their supporters staged protests in Cairo after Friday prayers against a brutal crackdown by the military.

An Egyptian army vehicle fired live rounds at the protesters trying to enter Liberation Square. The riot police also fired volleys of teargas to push them back.

Four people were killed in the clashes in two neighborhoods of Cairo.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 3, when the army ousted Morsi, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament. It also appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, as the new interim president.

The government of Mansour has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters and arrested more than 2,000 Brotherhood members, including the party’s leader, Mohamed Badie, who was detained on August 20.

About 1,000 people were killed in a week of violence between Morsi supporters and security forces after police dispersed their protest camps in a deadly operation on August 14.

The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted world bodies to call for an independent investigation into the violence.

HK