One person has reportedly been killed and 66 wounded when
clashes erupted outside a Coptic cathedral in Cairo after funeral
prayers were held for four Christians killed in sectarian violence.
There are conflicting reports on how exactly the clashes erupted.
Some
of them write that mourners who were chanting against the ruling Muslim
Brotherhood were pelted with stones as they left the church.
Egypt
Independent writes that the violence broke out after unknown assailants
attacked people attending the church service held at St. Mark’s Coptic
Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbasseya neighborhood in the Egyptian
capital.
One person was reported dead at the nearby Demerdash hospital, citing the head of the ambulance services.
The
victim was killed after having been struck by birdshot outside the
cathedral, said the head of the Egyptian Ambulance Organization, Mohamed
Sultan.
The Health Ministry confirmed at least 66 wounded in the
clashes, Egypt Independent wrote. Two of the injured are said to be in a
critical condition.
Riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Egyptian
President Mohamed Morsi has slammed the violence telling Coptic Pope
Tawadros II "Any attack against the cathedral is like an attack on me
personally", state news agency MENA reports.
Meanwhile, "Men
continue to flood the Cathedral, some holding sticks, rocks," Egypt
Independent reports on Twitter. "Outside people chant against the regime
amid periodic loud booming sounds."
Pope Tawadros II has issued an official statement urging the Egyptian people to exercise "wisdom and restraint."
Confrontations
between Christians and Muslims have increased in the Muslim-majority
Egypt after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
On Saturday, sectarian violence left four Coptic Christians and one Muslim dead in al-Khusus, northeast of Cairo.