24 Copt protesters die in violent clashes with Egypt military police

by Alfred Kola

CAIRO - Worst violence since February uprising broke out Sunday in Egyptian capital Cairo, when Christians protesting about an attack on a church set cars on fire, burned army vehicles and hurled rocks at military police.

The violence that left 24 people dead, mostly Coptic Christians, prompted the government to impose a curfew in the city overnight.

French News Agency AFP reports that "At least five of the dead were mown down by a speeding army vehicle, a priest from the minority Coptic community said, while an AFP correspondent saw other bodies with gunshot wounds."

The violence casts a shadow over the imminent parliamentary election. Voting starts on November 28 with candidates due to begin registering during the week starting Wednesday.

Reuters reports that "The clashes also added to growing frustration among activists with the army who many Egyptians suspect wants to keep hold of the reins of power from behind the scenes even as it hands over day-to-day government. The army denies this."

"This is a dark day in the military's history. This is betrayal, a conspiracy, murder," Magdy el-Serafy wrote on Twitter where he and other Egyptians voiced frustration at the army's handling of the protest.

Cabinet called an emergency meeting for Monday, vowing the violence would not derail Egypt's first election since Hosni Mubarak was toppled.

Pictures of smashed faces and dead bodies of what activists said were bodies run over by military vehicles circulated online, with angry comments comparing the violence used by the military to that of Mubarak's hated police in the uprising. - Reuters reports

"What happened today is unprecedented in Egypt. 17 corpses crushed by military tanks," Hossam Bahgat, human rights activist tweeted from hospital. "I saw bodies missing hands and legs, heads twisted away or plastered to the ground."

Protesters also took to the streets in Alexandria, Egypt's second city.