17 killed in Islamist protests across Egypt, ministry says

Demonstrators in Egypt\'s 2nd largest city, Alexandria Egypt\'s health ministry has said 17 people were killed, and 180 wounded in clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi and security forces across the country on Friday .
Four Morsi supporters were shot dead during a rally in the canal city of Ismailia, head of the Egyptian Ambulance Organisation, Mohammed Sultan said, whilst eight protesters were killed in Damietta, northern Egypt.
Locals in Ismailia said 11 others were injured in violent ?clashes between security forces and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Fighting erupted outside al-Saleheen mosque, close to Shebin al-?Kom after Friday prayers. Security officers used tear gas to disperse the stone-throwing protesters.
In Damietta, north of Cairo, 30 protesters were also wounded. Locals said security officers opened fire after Islamist activist tried to storm two prisons.
Meanwhile, news agency Reuters reported that eight people died and 70 were injured during clashes in Faiyum, southwest of Cairo.
The agency reported five deaths in Egypt\'s second largest city of Alexandria, adding Muslim Brotherhood activists were pushed back by security officials in the Ibrahimeya area, as they marched towards the Smoha region.?
Fighting was reported in the eastern area of Sedy Bishr after the Friday prayers, with locals claiming that three people were also injured.
Activists pelted forces with stones, who responded with birdshot. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots in the Ibrahimeya area.
Earlier on Friday morning, armed assailants attacked the headquarters of the Judges Club of Alexandria and set fire to the garden outside the building.
According to al-Ahram, a drive-by shooting occurred when a four-wheel-drive car passed by the club and opened fire at the gate. The assailants threw petrol bombs, setting the garden, including three parked cars on fire.
In Arish, North Sinai, local sources said eight Morsi supporters were wounded during violent confrontations with security forces. Witnesses said protesters marched towards the police headquarters, forcing the security personnel to retaliate with birdshot.
In the northern city of Tanta, Egyptian security forces fired birdshot and tear gas to block Morsi supporters from reaching a government building.
Pro-Morsi demonstrators staged a fresh wave of rallies in several Egyptian cities to protest Wednesday\'s violent dispersal of their two main protests sites in Cairo and Giza.
\"Our revolution is peaceful; we will continue to mobilise without violence or sabotage,\" the National Alliance for the Defence of Legitimacy, a coalition of largely Islamist parties and figures supportive of Morsi, said in a statement early Friday.
Additional source: AA