Nearly 1000 killed in Cairo since Aug 14 crackdown

Clashes in Cairo and its suburbs have killed at least 989 people since security forces launched an August 14 crackdown on supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, a forensic official told AFP Thursday. On August 14 itself, 627 people were killed when security forces stormed Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya square to disperse a sit-in by Morsi's backers, said Hisham Abdul Hamid, spokesman for Egypt's forensic authorities. The protesters had been calling for Morsi's return after he was overthrown and imprisoned by the army on July 3. Dozens more were also killed on August 14 in the capital's Nahda Square when police and troops dispersed a similar sit-in. Abdul Hamid said the death toll was based on forensic details collected by several morgues in and around Cairo. It does not include security forces' casualties. Egypt's military-installed authorities are engaged in a campaign against Islamist supporters of Morsi, which has also seen more than 2,000 people arrested since August 14. Morsi himself has been put on trial for charges related to deaths of protesters during his presidency. Military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, after millions of Egyptians took to the streets in July calling for the Islamist's resignation. Protesters calling for his removal had accused Morsi of working for the sole benefit of his Muslim Brotherhood, ruining an already dilapidated economy and monopolising power after the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak. Source: AFP