CAIRO (AA) – Clashes erupted on Friday between supporters and opponents of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in six Egyptian provinces, leaving at least two dead and several others injured.
The coastal city of Alexandria saw the worst of the violence, with one person shot dead and several others injured when clashes broke out between rival protesters in the Sidi Gaber district, according to a medical source.
Police fired teargas to break up the warring sides, later arresting dozens.
Ahmed al-Ansari, deputy head of Egypt's ambulance service, confirmed to Anadolu Agency that at least one person had been killed and six others injured in the Alexandria violence. However, in a statement, the Interior Ministry attributed the fatality to a car accident, claiming it had nothing to do with the protests.
Al-Ansari also said that six people had been injured in clashes in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya.
The central city of Beni Sueif also saw fierce clashes between supporters and opponents of the deposed Islamist leader, leaving one dead and an unspecified number of others injured.
Not far away, three Morsi backers were injured in the town of Beba in similar violence, medical sources said.
Four other Morsi supporters were injured when a pro-democracy march came under attack by stone-hurling individuals in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya, an AA correspondent reported from the scene.
In the Nile Delta province of Damietta, meanwhile, clashes broke out between pro-democracy demonstrators and opponents after planned marches held to condemn Morsi's July 3 military overthrow were blocked by security forces in several villages.
And in Mahalla, regional capital of the Nile Delta Gharbiya province, verbal exchanges descended into street fighting between rival demonstrators.
Five people were arrested after security forces used teargas to disperse battling protesters.
It remains unclear how many people were hurt in the violence.
Supporters of the ousted president staged mass rallies nationwide on Friday to mark the passage of one month since the violent dispersal of two anti-coup protest camps in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed by security forces.
Friday's rallies – held under the banner "Loyalty to the blood of the martyrs" – were called for by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, a coalition of largely Islamist groups and figures that demand Morsi's reinstatement as president.
