3 killed, 224 arrested in anti-government protests in Egypt

At least two civilians and a military officer were killed and 224 people were arrested on Friday amid anti-government protests called for by supporters of Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
"Today's protests have left so far three killed and 20 injured in various provinces across the country," Health Ministry's spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said.
He added that the three were killed during confrontation in Cairo's Matariya neighborhood.
Ealier, Xinhua photographer at Matariya reported that two people were shot dead during clashes between security forces and protesters in Matariya.
Also on Friday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that the police arrested 224 pro-Morsi "vandal elements" and managed to defuse ten explosive devices in various provinces nationwide.
The statement added that three policemen in Sharqiya Security Department, some 65 km north of Cairo, and one from seaside Alexandria province were injured during the events.
Egypt has been witnessing unstable political conditions since Morsi's removal by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule and the following massive security crackdown on his loyalists that left nearly 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.
Islamist group the Salafist Front, member of a pro-Morsi Islamist alliance led by the currently-blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group, urged late October to stage anti-government protests on Friday.
The group referred to these protests as "the Islamic Revolution," "Raising the Holy Quran," and "the Islamic Youth Uprising."
In response, the Egyptian security forces have been intensifying security over the past few days to prepare for Friday protests with about 220,000 equipped military and police officers and soldiers deployed across the country.
Earlier in the day, at least eight people, including two policemen, were injured as a blast targeted a police vehicle in Sharqiya province, whereas a sound bomb also went off near iconic Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. The police arrested the perpetrator, reporting no casualties.
In the restive Sinai Peninsula, four policemen and two civilians were injured on Friday as a blast targeted a police vehicle in Arish city of North Sinai province, a security source told Xinhua.
"The blast targeted a police armored vehicle at the coastal road in Arish in the evening and it injured a police officer and three police recruits," the source explained.
Terrorist activities have escalated in Egypt since Morsi's overthrow and anti-government attacks have since extended from Sinai to the capital Cairo and other provinces across the country, with Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) group claiming responsibility for most of them.
On Wednesday, a police officer and two recruits were shot dead in an ambush set up for their police vehicle by militant in Arish.
In late October, a blast targeted a big military checkpoint in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid city, leaving more than 30 soldiers killed and tens of others injured.
In response, Egypt announced a three-month curfew and a state of emergency in some parts of North Sinai.
The ABM has recently announced its allegiance to the regional Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and changed its name to "Sinai State" as one of the so-called groups under IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.