14th of August, 2013 was a terror day for Egypt. Egypt has declared a month long emergency after 421 people were killed as there was a sheer fight between the security forces and Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in all governorates.
Thousands of supporters for President Mohammed Morsi have stayed in camps for 47 days causing damages and harming the neighborhood where their camps were built which led the people ask the army to evacuate those pro Morsi camps. 14th of August was the chosen day; neither the police nor the army arrested any of the peaceful civilians protesting in those camps.
According to the ministry of health, exactly 421 were killed. However, the Muslim Brotherhood says that the count of causalities is more than 2,000.
The US has appealed for calm and condemned the emergency law. The country is in emergency, and there is curfew being setup in 14 governorates where violence took place from the angry Muslims Brotherhood members after evacuating their camps and leaving them free on the streets. The curfew can last up till a month.
The President said the action was taken as there was a threat to the society, locals and the private buildings. However, Vice President Mohammed ElBaradei has put down his papers in the wake of the violence. His statements were:
“I cannot support the decision of the government bodies and share the responsibility for killings”
The Bloodshed:
On Wednesday, early morning, there was smoke all around the area as the operation began and security forces fired tear gas helped by helicopters circling above. The protesters responded by throwing stones and burning tires. At the end of the evacuation, the Muslim Brotherhood members set Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque on fire!
The major clash raged for almost a day nearby Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. The reports from Egyptian media are that the security forces have taken full control of the situation and is now allowing the surviving protesters to leave. However, the destiny of many Muslim brotherhood leaders is still unknown. Nobody knows is they are in custody or simply escaped, including Mohamed El-Beltagy and Essam El-Erian. Unfortunately, Mohamed El-Beltagy 17-year daughter was killed.
It is still unannounced whether most of the people who were killed were supporters of Mr. Morsi; however, It was announced that about 55 officers from the security forces were killed.
Supporters of Mr. Morsi have been on protest since he was thrown out on 3rd July, many of them are members of Mr. Morsi’s Muslim brotherhood movement who want him to be back in power.
The Voices:
There are many voices from the international community. US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the event were “shocking” and “a blow to reconciliation efforts”. He further added that the turbulence “ran counter to Egyptians’ aspirations to democracy and peace”.
More of his strong statements were:
“Violence will only tear the economy into pieces and is no solution”. It is certainly not a roadmap for the Egyptian future.
A statement on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton stated “We believe that the violence is not the solution, and we appeal to Egyptian authorities to think and find a better way out”
Other voices were from Turkey and the UK. Turkish PM reacted immediately and has called for UN and Arab League to have a discussion on the same urgently.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has also shown his deep sorrow for the unfortunate incident.
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