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30 Jun, 2013 18:18

Shotguns, petrol bombs and rocks: Scores of protesters storm Muslim Brotherhood HQ in Cairo

Shotguns, petrol bombs and rocks: Scores of protesters storm Muslim Brotherhood HQ in Cairo

Opponents of President Mohamed Morsi have attempted to storm the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, the organization’s spokesman said. Two people have been killed in the clashes.

Violence had been widely anticipated ahead of Sunday’s multi-million-strong countrywide protests against the president on the anniversary of his inauguration, demanding his resignation.

Gehad El-Haddad, the spokesman for the Brotherhood, which nominated Morsi as its candidate ahead of last year’s elections, said several dozen protesters shot at the windows with shotguns, and threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at the building, which had been fortified in recent weeks.

A protester who opposes Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi runs after a Molotov cocktail burns him during the attack of national headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo's Moqattam district June 30, 2013. (Reuters)

El-Haddad said the attackers were successfully repelled.  

Millions took to the streets on Sunday to demand the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi on the first anniversary of his inauguration. "It is the biggest protest in Egypt's history," a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Regional offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, and its political affiliate, the Freedom and Justice Party, have come under a barrage of attacks over the past week. At least seven people – including an American bystander – have been killed during the torchings, with an estimated 600 suffering injuries.

Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi wave an Egyptian flag and shout slogans against him and members of the Muslim Brotherhood after attacking its national headquarters Molotov cocktails in Cairo's Moqattam district June 30, 2013. (Reuters)

Police, who have persistently feuded with Morsi, and have mostly ignored his instructions in recent weeks (news reports showed some police officers joining anti-government demonstrations on Sunday) said they had no intention of safeguarding Brotherhood buildings, due to “a lack of manpower.”

#MB HQ office in #Moqatam under attack by 150+ unrecognisable thugs w/ Molotov cocktail, Cartouche & stones. pic.twitter.com/9Dy22iklpw

— Gehad El-Haddad (@gelhaddad) June 30, 2013

A man has been killed, and two dozen people injured in a scuffle between anti-Morsi and pro-Morsi supporters in the Nile city of Beni Suef, according to security sources.

Earlier on Sunday, anti-Morsi activists ransacked the local Muslim Brotherhood office, and tried to break into a school, claiming the Islamist movement used it to store weapons.

The Health Ministry has said seven people were killed and hundreds were wounded in clashes across the country on Sunday.

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