CAIRO
Two people were killed in two separate clashes between Egyptian police and pro-democracy protesters after the latter staged fresh Friday rallies in several parts of the country, eyewitnesses and medical sources said.
"Security forces fired teargas, live ammunition and birdshot at a march staged by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in the village of Dalga, leaving Youssef Taha – a 15-year-old student – dead from gunshot wounds," according to an eyewitness in the Upper Egyptian province of Minya.
Other demonstrators suffered temporary asphyxiation after security forces used teargas to disperse pro-democracy rallies held elsewhere around the country.
A security source, however, dismissed claims that the slain protester had been killed by Egyptian security forces, saying that an investigation had been opened into the teenager's death.
Earlier Friday, Khaled Abdullah, 40, succumbed to birdshot injuries in Egypt's central Fayoum province, the director of Fayoum's ambulance authority told Anadolu Agency.
Six other people were injured during rallies in the same province, he added.
Egypt's Health Ministry, for its part, confirmed two deaths throughout the day, along with ten injuries.
Meanwhile, security forces arrested 14 Morsi supporters – including three girls – for participating in a pro-democracy rally in Cairo's Nasr City district, a security source said.
In Alexandria, meanwhile, security forces used teargas to disperse another pro-democracy rally held in the coastal city.
In the canal city of Suez, police used teargas to break up clashes between supporters and opponents of the ousted president.
And in the central Beni Sueif province, unidentified individuals attacked pro-democracy demonstrators with stones and bladed weapons.
Friday's rallies were called by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, Morsi's main support bloc, in the run-up to the third anniversary of former president Hosni Mubarak's departure on February 11, 2011.
The alliance has staged demonstrations on an almost daily basis since the army unseated Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected president – last July following mass protests against his rule.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
