Death toll in pro-Morsi Egypt protests rises to 5

Supporters of ousted president killed during anniversary clashes

16 August 2014, 4:11 pm

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Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand behind smoke from burning debris set ablaze during clashes with security forces on a street in the Matariya neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Aug. 15, 2014 (photo credit: AP/Ahmed Abdel Fattah, El Shorouk Newspaper)

An Egyptian health official said the death toll from violence during protests by supporters of the country’s ousted Islamist president has risen to five. The protesters were killed during clashes on the anniversary of the dispersal of two Cairo sit-ins.

Emergency services chief Mohammed Sultan said Saturday the five were killed in the capital a day earlier. He said the violence left 34 people wounded.

This raises the death toll from two days of clashes during small, scattered protests to nine people. The demonstrations come on the one-year anniversary of the Aug. 14 break-up of two protest camps by supporters of toppled President Mohammed Morsi, killing hundreds.

Then-Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, right, meets the Hamas Prime Minister of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh in Cairo, Egypt, July 26, 2012 photo credit: AP)

Morsi supporters have been demonstrating since his ouster last summer. Their numbers, however, have sharply decreased amid a security crackdown that left tens of thousands detained.