The Egyptian military opened fire on supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsy, and the Muslim Brotherhood, early Monday, killing more than 40 people.
The health ministry put the number of fatalities at 42, and said 322 others were wounded.
CNN counted at least
eight bullet-riddled bodies and up to 40 wounded at the chaotic
emergency facility in the Egyptian capital, down the street from the
site of the shooting. The upper bodies of the victims appeared to be
peppered with shotgun pellets and bullet wounds.
Doctors tended to the
victims, performing surgeries in many cases before shipping them out to
other facilities. Egyptian flags were draped over those who did not
survive.
The crowd had been
holding vigil outside Republican Guards headquarters, where Morsy was
reportedly detained after his arrest Wednesday.
Around the time of morning prayers, witnesses said the military and police opened fire with machine guns and tear gas.
The Egyptian military had a different version of events.
The army said an armed
terrorist group attempted to raid the facility and attacked security
forces, killing one officer, according to the state news agency MENA.
The army arrested 200 attackers, who were carrying guns, ammunition, and Molotov cocktails, MENA reported.
Party withdraws from talks
Reacting to the
shooting, the Al-Nour party -- which supported Morsy's ouster --
withdrew from all talks about forming an interim government.
"We will not remain silent on the Republican Guards Massacre," party spokesman Nader Bakkar said.
Stepping up security
The developments came as protesters took to the streets again, where, for weeks, arguments have turned to clashes.
Ahead of Monday's events, more than 30 people had died and 1,400 had suffered injuries since Wednesday's coup.
Egypt's military said in a statement over the weekend that it was stepping up security efforts for the demonstrations.
"We also warn against
any provocation or clashes with the peaceful demonstrators," the
statement said. "Anyone who violates these instructions will be dealt
with firmly in accordance with the law."
Supporters vow peaceful protests
Meanwhile, the Muslim
Brotherhood's political party vowed that protests would be peaceful and
accused authorities of planning to send fake bearded men into Cairo's
Tahrir Square to incite violence.
"This is so they can
claim that the supporters of the elected-president and the Islamic
groups are attacking the peaceful demonstrators. ... We warn those who
play with fire that any sectarian incitement at this critical time will
not be in the interests of anyone in our beloved Egypt," the Freedom and
Justice Party said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Human Rights Watch called for the country's military and political leaders to do more to stop the bloodshed.
"All sides need to tell
their followers to refrain from actions likely to lead to violence and
loss of life," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director
at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "At the same time, the
security forces need to show that they can act professionally and
effectively to stop the violence without resorting to unlawful lethal
force."
Politics in the midst of chaos
The latest violence
comes only hours after state television reported that Egypt's interim
president has nominated Mohamed ElBaradei to serve as vice president and
Ziad Bahaa el Din as prime minister.
Interim President Adly Mansour will need to get political consensus before they are appointed.
Presidential spokesman
Ahmed Almoslemani stressed on state-run Nile TV there is no specific
deadline of when the new government will be announced.
Nile TV had previously reported that he said an announcement would be made within 24 hours.
Earlier, ElBaradei's
name had been floated for the office of prime minister, but a
swearing-in announced for Saturday didn't happen.
Activist group Tamarod
spokesman Mahmoud Badr told Egypt's OTV on Sunday that the presidency
had tapped ElBaradei to form the new government but then retracted the
offer after objections from the conservative al-Nour party.
ElBaradei is known
around the world as the former head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency,
the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He was to appear Sunday
in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria but canceled it along with all
other media interviews, his office said.
Violence erupts in Sinai
In the lawless desert of
the Sinai, where al Qaeda affiliates have long had a foothold, violent
attacks erupted after Morsy's removal.
On Sunday, armed men
blew up a pipeline transporting natural gas to Jordan, an ally of Israel
and the United States, said a senior Egyptian intelligence officer, who
asked not to be named.
Such attacks had ceased when Morsy was president. Before that, armed groups destroyed pipelines every few months, he said.
State-run EgyNews
reported Sunday that three police officers in northern Sinai were shot
and wounded while on duty when someone in an unmarked car fired shots at
them and sped away.
It is unclear whether the attacks were a reaction to events in Cairo.
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