Gunbattle at Cairo mosque as security surrounds Islamists

The clashes came on the fourth day of bloodshed between the two sides, with the government saying 173 had died in the past 24 hours alone.

That brought the country’s toll to more than 750 people since Wednesday, when 578 people were killed in nationwide clashes that erupted after police cleared two camps of Morsi loyalists in the capital.

The standoff at Cairo’s Al-Fath mosque in central Ramses Square began on Friday, with security forces surrounding the building where Islamists were sheltering and trying to convince them to leave.

The Islamists had lined up the bodies of dozens of protesters killed in “Friday of anger” demonstrations inside the mosque-turned-morgue.

One of the protesters told AFP by telephone that they were demanding they not be arrested, or attacked by hostile civilians outside.

By Saturday afternoon, the situation turned violent, with an AFP reporter on the scene saying gunmen inside the mosque were trading fire with police outside.

The correspondent said police stormed the Fath mosque and security forces firing tear gas.

In the process, they managed to drag outside seven or eight men and were then confronted by angry neighbourhood residents who attacked them with sticks and iron bars.

Police fired in the air in a bid to disperse the mob.