60 injured in clash between pro-Coptic protesters and Muslims in Cairo

PanARMENIAN.Net - Violence erupted in the Cairo neighborhood of Maspero when pro-Coptic protesters clashed with unidentified men, leaving at least two people dead and 60 injured, state TV reported early on May 15.

The demonstrators initially staged a sit-in in front of the state TV building to demand greater rights for the religious minority.

Problems between Egypt's Muslim majority and its Coptic Christian minority have been on the rise in recent months, with a number of violent clashes reported between the two groups.

Dozens of unidentified men, dressed in plain clothes, began firing live ammunition into the air and attacking the demonstrators around the entrance of the sit-in enclosure with sticks and stones. They also threw Molotov cocktails. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were or what their motive was.

Witnesses claimed the attackers were people from neighboring slums, seeking to incite sectarian violence. Egyptian riot police were deployed and created a human barrier between the men and the demonstrators.

A pro-Coptic protester was hit in the head by a rock. He initially refused to enter an ambulance, saying he feared arrest by the army. Volunteer doctors attempted to treat him in a make-shift field clinic but his wounds were severe and he was eventually taken away in the ambulance.

The demonstrators captured one of their alleged attackers, who was badly beaten.

The pro-Coptic protesters broke up the sidewalk around the television station and threw chunks of rock and concrete at their attackers. The demonstrators were armed with clubs and metal chains and a man was seen carrying a sword.

Later, two groups of men were seen clashing outside the foreign ministry, which is near the TV building. It was not immediately clear whether they were the same groups that fought outside the TV station earlier, though state TV reported that Coptics were involved in the unrest.

The battling groups of men threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at each other. Black smoke billowed up from the street as cars burned outside the foreign ministry and tear gas was fired. Sporadic gunshots rang out for hours. Clashes continued into the early morning.

Thousands of riot police and soldiers were deployed and tear gas was fired to clear the crowds. Many men fainted from the gas, while others rushed to assist them. Army units secured the perimeter and the gunshots stopped. Ambulances arrived. A man bleeding from a gunshot wound to his stomach was carried to a make-shift clinic by pro-Coptic demonstrators. A doctor attempted to remove a pellet from another man's leg.

Thousands of demonstrators chanted loudly, calling for a million-man protest outside the state TV building, CNN reported.