Egypt bombs IS targets in Libya after beheading of 21 nationals.

Cairo: The Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed  al Tayeb (right), offers condolences to Egypt’s Coptic  Pope Tawadros II at a cathedral on Monday

CAIRO | AFP | 17 Feb 2015 : :  Egyptian jets bombed Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday, a day after the group there released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, drawing Cairo directly into the conflict across its border.

Egypt said the pre-dawn strike hit militant camps, training sites and weapons storage areas in neighbouring Libya, where civil conflict has plunged the country into near anarchy and created havens for armed factions.

While Cairo is believed to have provided clandestine support to a Libyan general fighting a rogue government in Tripoli, the mass killings pushed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi into open action, expanding his battle against Islamist militancy.

“And let those near and far know that the Egyptians have a shield that protects and preserves the security of the country, and a sword that eradicates terrorism,” the military said.

Egyptian state television aired footage of fighter planes leaving a hangar with “Long live Egypt” emblazoned on the tails, followed by night-vision aerial footage showing bomb explosions and the aircraft returning in early daylight.

Libya’s air force also participated in Monday’s attack, which targeted Derna, an eastern coastal city seen as a base for Islamic State fighters in the oil-rich nation.

“There are casualties among individuals, ammunition and the (Islamic State) communication centres,” Libyan air force commander Saqer al-Joroushi told Egyptian state television, adding that dozens were killed.

Joroushi, who is loyal to Libya’s internationally recognised government that set up camp in the city of Tobruk after losing control of Tripoli, said there would be more strikes on Tuesday.

The rival Tripoli-based parliament, which is supported by some Islamist groups, said the strike was an assault on the country’s sovereignty. Omar al-Hassi, the premier of the self-declared Tripoli government, said three children, two elderly men and a 21-year-old woman were killed in the attack.

It was not possible to confirm either factions’ accounts of the number or nature of the casualties.

CHRISTIAN ANGER: Cairo called on the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to broaden the scope of their operations to include Libya, highlighting how the militant group has expanded its reach around the Arab world.

The US military estimated in December that only around 200 Islamic State fighters were operating in the country.

Egypt is not the only Arab nation sucked into confrontation with the group by the gruesome killings of its citizens.

The 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians were marched to a beach, forced to kneel and then beheaded on video, which was broadcast via a website that supports Islamic State.

Before the videoed killings, one of the militants stood with a knife in his hand and said: “Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for.” Afterwards, he says: “And we will conquer Rome, by the will of Allah.” The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, condemned the beheadings.

“They were killed simply for the fact that they were Christians,” he said at the Vatican. “It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians!” Egypt’s Coptic Christian pope was one of the public figures who backed Sisi when he, as army chief, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 after mass protests against him.

France has said Egypt will order 24 Rafale fighter jets, a naval frigate and other equipment in a deal to be signed in Cairo on Monday worth more than 5 billion euros ($5.7bn).

French President Francois Hollande said on Monday that he and Sisi wanted the United Nations Security Council to discuss Libya and take new measures against the Islamic State. ( Courtesy : Dawn )

Islamist stronghold near Cairo.

Egypt police raid Islamist stronghold near Cairo.

Security forces determined to assert control over pro-Morsi areas, bring to justice killers of 15 policemen in attack last month

CAIRO | 24 Sep 2013 :: Egypt’s state TV said security forces raided a village near the Giza Pyramids west of Cairo hunting for suspects in the brutal killing of 15 policemen last month.

The Tuesday security sweep of Nahya, a stronghold for Islamist groups, was the latest move by authorities to assert control over towns and villages seized by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi after his July 3 overthrow by the military.

The police officers were killed in the nearby village of Kerdasa, and their bodies mutilated, in apparent retaliation for an August 14 assault by the security forces on pro-Morsi protest camps that left hundreds dead. Security forces reoccupied Kerdasa last week, arresting scores of suspects.

State TV showed security forces in body shields and masked special commandos searching suspects’ home.(Courtesy:The Times of Israel)

Egyptian army bombards Sinai militants.

Egyptian army bombards Sinai militants.

BBC News | 07 Sep 2013 :: The Egyptian army has attacked militants in the Sinai peninsula using tanks and helicopters, killing or injuring at least 30 people.

Tanks, armoured vehicles and troops were deployed in towns along the border with the Gaza Strip, eyewitnesses say.

The operation is said to be the biggest of its kind in recent years in Sinai.

Elsewhere, soldiers discovered mortars and other explosives on a railway line near the Suez Canal, the state news agency reports.

There have been frequent attacks on pipelines and security forces since the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

On Thursday a powerful explosion targeted Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim as he left his Cairo house for work. He survived unscathed, but officials say another person died.(Courtesy:BBC News)Read More>>>

Egyptian interior minister survives car bombing.

Egyptian interior minister survives car bombing.

Mohammed Ibrahim targeted in attack on convoy in Cairo’s Nasr City district, a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood; several injuries reported

Site of the targeted attack of the Egyptian interior
 minister September 5, 2013. (Photo credit: Twitter)

CAIRO | 05 Sep 2013 :: Egypt’s interior minister says his convoy was targeted by a “large” explosive device that was likely detonated by remote control on Thursday.

Speaking on state television after Thursday’s attack in an eastern Cairo district, a clearly shaken but unscathed Mohammed Ibrahim said the explosion targeted his own car. He says four other cars in the convoy were damaged.

Ibrahim said two police officers in the convoy were in serious condition and that a child who was near the explosion suffered a serious leg injury.

Security officials said six passers-by were injured in the attack, but that there were no fatalities. The blast damaged several cars parked on the street and shattered the windows of several nearby apartment buildings.

The Interior Minister is in charge of the country’s police force.

The Qatari news network Al-Jazeera tweeted the following picture it says is from the site of the attack . (Courtesy:The Times of Israel)Read More>>>

Egypt’s Sinai emerges as new theater for jihad.

Egypt’s Sinai emerges as new theater for jihad.

Peninsula becoming a hotbed for terror groups since the ouster of Islamist president Morsi

Egyptian Army personnel supervise the destruction of tunnels
between Egypt and the Gaza Strip at the border, near the town
 of Rafah, northern Sinai, Egypt, Tuesday Sept. 3, 2013
 (photo credit: AP/AP Television)

CAIRO  | AP | 04 Sep 2013 ::  An Egyptian doctor once close to Osama bin Laden is bringing together multiple al-Qaida-inspired militant groups in Egypt’s Sinai to fight the country’s military, as the lawless peninsula emerges as a new theater for jihad, according to Egyptian intelligence and security officials.

There have been other signs of a dangerous shift in the longtime turmoil in the peninsula bordering Israel and Gaza since the military’s July 3 ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, the officials say. With the shifts, Sinai’s instability is becoming more regionalized and threatens to turn into an outright insurgency.

Sinai has seen an influx of foreign fighters the past two months, including several hundred Yemenis. Several militant groups that long operated in the area to establish an Islamic Caliphate and attack their traditional enemy Israel have joined others in declaring formally that their objective now is to battle Egypt’s military.

Also, Sinai has become the focus of attention among major regional jihadi groups. Al-Qaida’s branch in Iraq last weekend called on Egyptians to fight the military, as did al-Qaida’s top leader, Ayman al-Zawahri. The militant considered the most dangerous man in the Sahara — one-eyed terror leader Moktar Belmoktar, a former member of al-Qaida’s North Africa branch — joined forces with a Mali-based jihadi group last month and vowed attacks in Egypt.

Topping the most wanted list in Sinai is Ramzi Mawafi, a doctor who joined al-Qaida in Afghanistan in the 1990s. Mawafi, 61, escaped from an Egyptian prison in 2011 in a massive jailbreak that also sprung free Morsi and more than a dozen Muslim Brotherhood members during the chaos of the uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak.(Courtesy: Times of Israel)

Seven million displaced in Syrian conflict.

Seven million displaced in Syrian conflict.

a group of Free Syrian Army fighters carry
a woundedcomrade to cover in the town
 of Harem, Syria - File Photo/AP

DAMASCUS | AP | 03 Sep 2013 ::  The United Nations (UN) estimates that five million Syrians have been displaced inside the country due to the ongoing civil war. Another two million have fled to neighboring countries, bringing the total up to seven million, which is nearly one-third of Syria’s population.

Before the outbreak of the conflict, Syria had a population of about 23 million people.

Tarik Kurdi, the representative of the refugee agency in Syria, said that the funding gaps for those displaced remain wide. Donor countries spend less than one-third the amount required to help.

More than 100,000 lives have been lost in Syria’s two-and-a-half-year-old conflict, including the hundreds who were recently killed by an alleged chemical weapons attack on August 21.

While the Syrian government has denied involvement, no proof has so far been submitted to back up the allegations.

In Washington, President Barack Obama was lobbying Congress to support a military strike to punish the Assad regime for its alleged chemical weapons use.

While Obama initially seemed poised to launch military action, the president recently decided to seek congressional approval before deciding on a course of action.

A vote is expected after Congress returns from summer recess on September 7.

On Capitol Hill, senior administration officials briefed lawmakers in private on Sunday to explain why the U.S. was compelled to act against Assad. Further meetings were planned from Monday to Wednesday.

The Arab League, meanwhile, stopped short of endorsing military action.

In an emergency meeting in Cairo on Sunday, it called on the United Nations and the international community to take ''deterrent'' measures under international law to stop the Syrian regime's crimes.(Courtesy:Dawn)Read More>>>

Latest Egypt clashes kill 5 civilians, say Ministry.

Latest Egypt clashes kill 5 civilians, say 

Ministry.

Thousands of Mursi’s supporters had marched across the country
 on Friday denouncing the July 3 coup that overthrew the
 Islamist president. (File photo: Reuters)

Cairo | AFP | 31 Aug 2013 :: Five civilians died in clashes in Egypt on Friday when opponents and supporters of ousted President Mohammad Mursi clashed in several cities, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Three were killed in clashes in the Giza district in Cairo, one in the canal city of Port Said and one in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, the ministry said in a statement.

Thousands of Mursi’s supporters had marched across the country on Friday denouncing the July 3 coup that overthrew the Islamist president.

Separately, the interior ministry said two policemen were killed in militant attacks on Friday in North Sinai, where security forces have been battling a semi-insurgency since Mursi’s overthrow.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)

36 Muslim Brotherhood members die in Egypt.

36 Muslim Brotherhood members die in Egypt.

CAIRO | 21 Aug 2013 :: At least 36 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were killed in a riot in Egypt when they attempted to escape while being moved to a jail, state news agency MENA reported.

Armed clashes broke out Sunday between security forces and militants, who intercepted and attacked police vehicles carrying the Muslim Brotherhood detainees to the Abu Zaabal prison near Cairo, Xinhua said Monday.
The clashes took place before the police vehicles entered the prison.
The detainees tried to escape with the help of the militants, who took a police officer hostage. The security men fired tear gas shells in response. Some detainees suffered from suffocation while several militants were shot dead.
More than 600 people have been sent to 15 days in custody pending investigation over Saturday''s clashes at Al-Fatah mosque which left at least 79 dead.(Courtesy:News24)

Egypt: Militants Kill 24 Army Troops In Ambush.

Egypt: Militants Kill 24 Army Troops In Ambush.

Militants have killed 24 army troops in an ambush in the wake of the military's brutal crackdown, according to Egyptian officials.

Egyptian army soldiers outside the Supreme
 Constitutional Court in Cairo

UK | 19 Aug 2013 :: Militants have apparently killed 24 military personnel in an ambush in northern Sinai, officials in Egypt have claimed.

It follows the brutal suppression of supporters of the ousted president Mohammed Morsi, in which 750 people were killed.

The military cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, raiding homes and making hundreds of arrests following scenes of bloodshed in Cairo.

In response the supporters have pledged days of protest.

It comes as European Union ambassadors are to meet today to discuss the crisis in Egypt amid international alarm at the growing death toll from unrest across the country.

The meeting comes as Egypt's interim military government cracks down on the supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy have issued a rare joint statement warning that the EU would "urgently" review its relations with Egypt over the coming days.

Prime Minister David Cameron and French president Francois Hollande have called for today's meeting of ambassadors in Brussels to be followed by an emergency session of EU foreign ministers.

Britain has condemned the "disproportionate use of force" by the Egyptian authorities and called on all sides to end the violence and to enter dialogue.

In their statement, Mr Barroso and Mr Van Rompuy said all political forces in Egypt must recommit to the country's democratic future and called on the army to support a move towards early elections and the establishment of a civilian government.(Courtesy:Sky News)

Egypt's carnage kills 578 as crisis deepens.

Egypt's carnage kills 578 as crisis deepens.

A man grieves as he looks at one of many bodies
 laid out in a make shift morgue after Egyptian
security forces stormed two huge protest camps
at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and Al-Nahda squares
where supporters of ousted president Mohamed
 Morsi were camped, in Cairo, on August 14,
 2013. — Photo AFP

CAIRO | AFP | 16 Aug 2013 ::  At least 578 people were killed in the violence that swept Egypt Wednesday, the health ministry said, with more than 300 of them losing their lives after police assaults on Cairo sit-ins.

The death toll included 43 policemen and 318 protesters killed in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda square protest camps, senior health ministry official Khaled al-Khatib told AFP Thursday. In total, 535 civilians died nationwide.

The army-backed interim government imposed a month-long nationwide state of emergency, and curfews in Cairo and 13 other provinces.

Shortly after the curfew ended on Thursday morning, light traffic began returning to Cairo's streets, with roads blocked for weeks by the pro-Morsi protests now reopened.

A health ministry official said at least 300 civilians had been killed throughout the country, updating an earlier toll. The interior ministry added that 43 security personnel had lost their lives.

Egypt's press carried photos Thursday of Morsi supporters brandishing weapons and throwing stones at police during the previous day's confrontations.

“The nightmare of the Brotherhood is gone,” daily Al-Akhbar's front page headline read.

“The Brotherhood's last battle,” added Al-Shorouk.

At least four churches were attacked, with Christian activists accusing Morsi loyalists of waging “a war of retaliation against Copts in Egypt”.

The day's violence was the worst since the 2011 uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak, with an AFP correspondent counting at least 124 bodies in makeshift morgues in the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest site.(Courtesy:Dawn)Read More>>>

Egypt Death Toll at Least 95, 874 Injured, State of Emergency.

Egypt Death Toll at Least 95, 874 Injured, State of Emergency.

Supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed
 Morsi, stand among debris and smoke in background
 as they confront Egyptian security forces trying to
clear the smaller of the two sit-ins, near the Cairo
University campus in Giza, Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday,
 Aug. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Imad Abdul Rahman)

AFRICA | 14 Aug 2013 :: At least 95 have been killed and 874 injured in a military crackdown on ousted president Mohammed Morsi’s supporters Wednesday. A nationwide state of emergency has been declared. 

Bulldozers demolish barriers, gunfire is frequent and prolonged in BBC footage. 

Media supportive of the military rule show infrared footage of pro-Morsi gunmen firing rounds; the claim is that Morsi supporters have contributed to Wednesday’s violence. 

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon urged Egyptian authorities to respond to ongoing demonstrations diplomatically. 

Ban’s office issued a statement Wednesday, saying: “With Egypt’s rich history and diversity of views and experiences, it is not unusual for Egyptians to disagree on the best approach forward.  What is important, in the Secretary-General’s view, is that differing views be expressed respectfully and peacefully.  To the Secretary-General’s regret, that is not what happened today.”

Egyptian security forces have stormed the main sit-in camp of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi in eastern Cairo after clearing out a smaller sit-in near Cairo University’s campus.

Wednesday’s developments are the latest chapter in the turmoil that has roiled Egypt since the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak and are likely to deepen the nation’s division between the camp of Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood on one side, and secularists, liberals, moderate Muslims and minority Christians on the other.(Courtesy:Epoch Times)

Leader of Al-Qaida Yemen Vows To Free Prisoners.

Leader of Al-Qaida Yemen Vows To Free Prisoners.

CAIRO | 12 Aug 2013 ::  The leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot has vowed to free fellow militants from prisons everywhere and urged them to remain faithful to the terror group’s ideology.

The message by Nasser al-Wahishi, posted on militant websites Monday, warns al-Qaida prisoners not “to be lured by their jailers” and promises that “victory is imminent” to ensure their freedom.

The note by al-Wahishi, a onetime aide to Osama bin Laden, comes after last week’s closure of 19 U.S. diplomatic missions triggered by the interception of a secret message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and the Yemeni branch’s leader about plans for a major attack.

It also follows an announcement by Yemeni authorities that they had discovered an al-Qaida plot to target foreign embassies in Sanaa and international shipping in the Red Sea.(Courtesy:Epoch Times)

Egypt army says 60 militants in Sinai killed.

Egypt army says 60 militants in Sinai killed.

More than 20 police and soldiers have also died in clashes in the month since the military coup that ousted Mohammed Morsi

Egyptian armored vehicles in Sinai (photo credit:
 screen capture AlJazeeraEnglish/YouTube

CAIRO | AP | 07 Aug 2013 ::  Egypt’s military spokesman says 60 militants have been killed and 103 arrested on the Sinai Peninsula as part of the army’s operations there over the past month.

Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali released the figures Wednesday on his official Facebook page. He did not name any of suspects killed or detained.

The Facebook post said that authorities also destroyed 102 smuggling tunnels to the Palestinian Gaza Strip during this time.

The military’s figures could not be independently verified.

More than 20 policemen and soldiers have been killed in near daily clashes in Sinai since President Mohammed Morsi’s ouster July 3. About a dozen civilians have also been killed in violence there.

Emboldened militants have increased the frequency of their attacks on the army on the peninsula to exploit the political turmoil.(Courtesy:The Times of Israel)

Egypt unrest: At least 6 killed in clashes near Cairo University.

Egypt unrest: At least 6 killed in clashes near Cairo University.

An Egyptian inspects destroyed cars following overnight

 clashes between opponents and supporters of ousted

 president Mohamed Morsi near the Cairo University in Giza,

 Egypt (Mohammed Saber, EPA / July 23, 2013)

CAIRO  | 23 Jul 2013 ::  Stones and gunfire killed at least six people early Tuesday as clashes between opponents and supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi intensified near Cairo University, which has become a central battleground in the country’s political unrest.

Violence between the two camps -- sometimes with the army and police in the middle -- has escalated in recent days as each side has provoked the other. More than 90 people have been killed nationwide since Morsi was toppled by a coup on July 3.

Thousands of Morsi supporters have been staging sit-ins at the university and across the Nile at the Rabaa al Adawiya mosque. Most of the anti-Morsi contingent has been hunkered in Tahrir Square. The sides have been edging closer to each other, including a march on the U.S. Embassy by pro-Morsi demonstrators Monday that sparked fighting with protesters in nearby Tahrir.

Supplies of smuggled weapons have increased the bloodshed. Both factions say they have been targeted by snipers. Pistols, including homemade guns, have often been used and many men stand on the front lines like urban warriors, wearing construction helmets and carrying shields of corrugated tin.

Interim President Adly Mahmoud Mansour has called for reconciliation that will turn to “a new page in the nation’s book. No contempt, no hatred, no divisions and no collisions.”

A political solution remains elusive. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party said it would not end its sit-ins or cooperate with the military-backed government until Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president, is reinstated. That is highly improbable, especially as a new coalition government has begun amending the constitution and preparing for parliamentary elections in six months.

The clashes highlight the country’s polarization but Morsi supporters do not appear to have the numbers to stop a political process that is moving quickly without their input or participation. The former president has been detained by the military without formal charges. His family has demanded his release, blaming the army for kidnapping him and arresting hundreds of Brotherhood members.

On Monday, Morsi’s daughter Shaimaa told reporters: "We hold the leaders of the bloody military coup fully responsible for the safety and security of the president."(Courtesy:Los  Angeles Time)

Official: 7 U.N. peacekeepers killed in Sudan attack.

Seven U.N. soldiers and police officers were killed in a
 gunfire attack in Darfur in the western region of Sudan on
 Saturday. U.N. peacekeepers have been in the region since 2008.

CAIRO | AP | 13 Jul 2013 ::   Gunmen ambushed a United Nations peacekeeping team Saturday in Sudan's western region of Darfur, killing seven and wounding another 17 in the deadliest ever attack single attack on the international force in the country.

The assault included sustained heavy fire from machine guns and possibly rocket-propelled grenades, targeting the force some 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of the town of Khor Abeche, U.N. forces spokesman Chris Cycmanick said. Reinforcements later arrived to rescue the wounded, which included two female police advisers, the force said in a statement.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault. Cycmanick declined to give the nationalities of those killed and wounded in the attack.

Peacekeepers have been targeted by assailants in the past in the region since the international force began its work there in 2008. In the last attack, gunmen shot dead a Nigerian peacekeeper in April in East Darfur State.

The joint African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force, dubbed UNAMID, was established to protect civilians in Darfur, but also contributes to security for those providing humanitarian aid, verifying agreements, political reconciliation efforts and promoting human rights.

It has about 16,500 troops and military observers and over 5,000 international police. More than 300,000 people have been killed in the Darfur conflict since rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government nearly 10 years ago, accusing it of discrimination and neglect.

"The mission condemns in the strongest possible terms those responsible for this heinous attack on our peacekeepers," said Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a joint special representative of the force. "The perpetrators should be on notice that they will be pursued for this crime and gross violation of international humanitarian law."(Courtesy:USA Today)

In Egypt, Islamists call for uprising after military opens fire.

What happened … is a massacre,' the Muslim Brotherhood declares. The army says the shooting that killed 51 came in response to an attack on its headquarters.

A man grieves at a makeshift hospital in Cairo after the
 Egyptian military's deadly crackdown on a sit-in by
supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.

CAIRO | AFP | 09 Jul 2013 | :: With its people more polarized than ever and the military once again struggling to impose calm, Egypt's downward spiral appears to have no bottom.

At least 51 people were killed Monday when army and police forces opened fire on a sit-in during morning prayers. Theprotesters outside Republican Guard headquarters said they were peacefully calling for the release of the Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, whom the military deposed last week. The army said it responded to a "terror group" firing weapons and hurling Molotov cocktails.

Stunned but not deterred by the violence, the Islamists quickly called for a national uprising.

"We are very patient. We Egyptians built the pyramids," said Essam Erian, deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing. "Do you know how many people died building the pyramids? How many died digging the Suez Canal?"

The two sides’ differing views of the violence were a chilling suggestion of what Egypt may yet endure. The military crackdown has been fierce and swift. But the army so far has been unable to patch together a coalition government to replace Morsi and the Brotherhood. Without it, critics say, the army resorted to excessive force — as it did two years ago when it stepped in after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.

The army's actions early Monday may also have nudged two Islamic adversaries — the Brotherhood and the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party — closer together.

Nour, which won 25% of the vote in last year's parliamentary elections, plays a pivotal role. It sided against the Brotherhood last week and joined a coalition of secular and religious parties in favor of ousting Morsi. But it balked at the naming of prominent secularist Mohamed ElBaradei as prime minister Saturday.

Facing increasing pressure from the Islamist camp after the killings, Nour withdrew from the negotiations on forming an interim government. The move is likely to consolidate Islamist forces and damage efforts to stabilize the country.

The military is dealing "with human beings, not animals, so how can you target people like that?" said Nour spokesman Nader Bakar. "This is something that cannot be justified.... Where is the military's self-control and restraint?"

The army was unbowed. It was determined to convince Egyptians that its takeover and removal of Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, was necessary to stem political chaos and economic turmoil. It said it was forced to act because of a deepening threat from radicals.

"The armed forces always deal with issues very wisely, but there is certainly also a limit to patience," said Ahmed Ali, the military spokesman.

The army increasingly has used the term "terrorism" to describe not only attacks by militants, but also in reference to clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators. The term to many Egyptians is becoming a code word for Islamists.

"The reports say that the army assaulted them while they were praying, but of course this isn't true," said Ibrahim Allaga, a 23-year-old who runs a T-shirt business. He was one of the anti-Morsi demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday. "This has never happened in Egyptian history, that the army would attack people while they pray. This is a rumor started by terrorist groups to get the support of the Egyptian people."

In Washington, the Obama administration ruled out, at least for now, cutting off $1.5 billion in annual aid to Egypt despite a federal law that requires halting assistance to countries that have overthrown elected governments with military coups.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, told reporters that a quick cutoff of aid would be "not in the best interests of the United States." Officials suggested that using the threat of a cutoff to push the Egyptian military and other political players toward reconciliation would be more effective than imposing a punishment that could alienate the generals.

Witnesses said demonstrators near the Republican Guard headquarters, where Morsi is believed to be in detention, fled in the early-morning darkness as soldiers and security forces fired tear gas, bullets and buckshot. The dead and wounded were ferried away by motorcycles, ambulances and in the arms of relatives.

"While we prayed, they shot us," said Fatma Alzomor, who wailed near the Rabaa al Adawiya mosque, about two miles away. "Witness, free world, what is happening. We are being sprayed with blood. You must hear me."

In the clamor, husbands reached for wives and mothers for children.

"We were praying at 3:30 a.m. when we were surprised by gunfire and tear gas all around us," said Mahmoud Mohamed, a lawyer, who was shot in the arm. "We had women and children with us. The shooting went on for a long time. They didn't give us a chance to retreat. They met us from every direction."(Courtesy:Los Angeles Times)

Egypt: Gunfire at Military Building Leaves 40 Dead.

CAIRO | 08 Jul 2013 :: Egyptian soldiers and police opened fire on supporters of the ousted president early Monday in violence that left at least 40 people killed, including one officer, outside a military building in Cairo where demonstrators had been holding a sit-in, government officials and witnesses said.

There were conflicting accounts of how the violence began. A military spokesman said gunmen attempted to storm the building at dawn, prompting the clashes. Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, meanwhile, said the security forces fired on hundreds of protesters as they performed early morning prayers. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the two accounts.

In chaotic scenes from field hospitals treating the wounded, at least six dead bodies had been laid out on the ground, some with severe wounds, according to footage aired by pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera. The bodies had been draped with an Egyptian flag and pictures of Morsi. Pools of blood covered the floor and doctors struggled to deal with gaping wounds.

A medic from the area, Hesham Agami, said ambulances were unable to transport more than 200 wounded to hospitals because the military had blocked off the roads.

Health Ministry spokesman Khaled el-Khatib said initial reports also indicated at least 322 were wounded, although he gave no details on the circumstances of the bloodshed.

Military spokesmen said gunmen opened fire on troops at the building, killing at least five Morsi supporters and one officer.(Courtesy:Epoch Times)Read More>>>