The Egyptian government ordered police today to break up the protests of supporters of ex-President Mohammed Morsi.
These demonstrations are largely made up of Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters, and have been going on since the Islamist Morsi was overthrown by the military earlier this month, July 3. According to The Wall Street Journal, officials say that the protests pose an “‘unacceptable threat’ to national security”.
Reuters reports that in a televised appearance, Egypt’s interim cabinet stated, "The cabinet decided to begin taking all necessary measures to address these dangers and put an end to them, commissioning the interior minister to do all that is necessary regarding this matter within the framework of the constitution and the law."
These threats of removal are nothing new—and have more than once resulted in clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and security forces. This past Saturday, July 27, one such deadly clash resulted in the death of 70 people at a square near the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, BBC News reports.
Photo courtesy of Voice of America, Wikimedia Commons