By Rabia al-Sokkary

CAIRO

Egypt’s embattled Muslim Brotherhood group has vowed to stick to peaceful activism as the group marked the fourth anniversary of the violent dispersal of a major sit-in in Cairo in which hundreds were killed.

In a statement, acting Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mahmud Ezzat said maintaining the peaceful struggle would be “a guarantee against falling prey to violence and desperation”.

On August 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces violently cleared a sit-in staged in support of former President Mohamed Morsi in eastern Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya square.

While Egyptian authorities say only 623 people were killed in the dispersal, the Muslim Brotherhood put the death toll at nearly 2,600.

The dispersal came a few weeks after the military, led by then-defense minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, deposed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, in a military coup.

“We will remember Rabaa as it has become a symbol for freedom, honor and dignity,” Ezzat said.

In the aftermath of the coup, Egyptian security forces launched a harsh crackdown on supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood groups, killing hundreds and detaining thousands.