Fighting erupted on Wednesday between supporters and opponents of deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt’s Nile Delta governorate of Menoufiya, leaving six injured, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
Menoufiya’s capital city Shebin El-Koum saw stone-throwing and the use of birdshot and Molotov cocktails after a verbal exchange escalated between a pro-Morsi protester and anti-Morsi bystanders at the governorate office building. Egypt has witnessed frequent clashes between the two rival sides after Morsi’s popularly-backed removal by the military on 3 July as his supporters have held ongoing protests demanding his reinstatement. Dozens were killed in similar clashes in several governorates since Morsi’s ouster. On Tuesday, an explosive device went off at a police station in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, the capital of Daqahliya governorate, killing at least one conscript and injuring 19, marking a possible transformation in the type of violence used. In a controversial move on Wednesday, Egypt’s Defence Minister Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the military commander behind Morsi’s removal from power, called on Egyptians to gather en masse Friday to give the army a mandate to take action against “terrorism.”