CAIRO
Two Egyptian army officers and four civilians were killed in separate incidents on Friday – a day that also saw anti-regime demonstrations by several Islamist groups.
One protestor, who was injured during a rally in eastern Cairo staged by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, succumbed to his wounds, Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar told The Anadolu Agency.
Meanwhile, two army officers were killed and four others injured in two separate attacks that took place in Cairo and the northern province of Qalioubiya, according to a security source.
"An army brigadier-general was shot dead by unknown assailants in eastern Cairo and two other military personnel were injured in the attack," the source told AA.
The source went on to say that another army officer had been killed in an attack by unknown assailants "while inspecting security forces in eastern Cairo's Abu Zaabal district."
And in Cairo's Matariya neighborhood, meanwhile, two people were killed when police forcibly dispersed an anti-regime rally.
A source from the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, Morsi's main support bloc, said one of Friday's fatalities had involved a pro-Morsi protester.
"Police and military forces used teargas and birdshot to disperse the protest, which led to the death of one protester and the injury of several others," the source said.
But Cairo security chief Ali al-Demerdash said the man had been killed by gunfire from Muslim Brotherhood supporters while leaving a mosque following Friday prayers.
"[The victim] was not participating in the protests," al-Demerdash told AA. "We have nothing to do with his death; we are showing self-restraint in dealing with protesters."
A third death was reported during clashes between protestors and other civilians, according to a security source.
A fourth civilian was killed when a police vehicle was targeted with a locally-made explosive device in the northern Sharqiya province.
The Friday protests were called for by the pro-Morsi National Alliance and Egypt's Salafist Front, a component of the alliance.
The protest calls alarmed Egypt's security agencies, which have warned of potential violence by demonstrators.
The authorities – which have unleashed a broad crackdown on dissent mainly targeting Morsi supporters – had threatened to use live ammunition against anyone who attacked state institutions during Friday's planned protests.
Morsi, the country first freely elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader, was ousted by the army last year following mass protests against his single year in office.
President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, a former army general who played a key role in Morsi's ouster, was declared the winner of a presidential election conducted in May.
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