On the morning of 8 July 2013 at the

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

headquarters in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

there was a clash between protesters seeking the return of deposed President

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

and those opposed to the recent

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

. Amnesty International has condemned the military's disproportionate use of force, with a spokesperson stating, "Even if some protesters used violence, the response was disproportionate and led to the loss of life and injury among peaceful protesters."

Incident

According to some witnesses, the military opened fire without provocation towards the end of morning prayers, immediately using live ammunition and shooting to kill.

Gehad El-Haddad Gehad El-Haddad (; born c. 1981) is an Egyptian political activist for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He acted as media spokesman for the Brotherhood from May 2013 until he was arrested on 17 September 2013. He became the most recognized face of ...

, the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

's spokesman, claimed that the military opened fire at the protesters while they were praying in front of the Republican Guard and staging a peaceful sit-in. One witness claimed that protestors had their backs to the Republic Guard building, as they were praying towards Mecca. Others claimed that the incident was after prayers. Some protestors claimed that

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Mohamed el-Mesairy was sheltering in his parked car when he was killed by military gunfire striking the car.''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 8 July 2013
Army Kills 51, Deepening Crisis in Egypt
/ref>According to the military, a "terrorist group" tried to storm the Republican Guard headquarters and that it had retaliated by opening fire at the attackers. A military spokesman reported that an officer was killed and six troops were injured before adding that 42 troops were injured and eight were in critical condition. An amateur video recording showed people holding guns from the side of the protesters during daylight.

Investigation

Preliminary investigations claimed that the crime scene contained firearms, ammunition, Freedom and Justice Party membership cards, explosives that contained pieces of glass, smoke grenades and a document that contained a list of names with monetary values next to it. The army said it had arrested over 200 people, with "large quantities of firearms, ammunition and Molotov cocktails".

Domestic response

* The interim presidency ordered the formation of a judicial committee to investigate the killings at the "raid against the Republican Guard headquarters". *

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Hesham Qandil Hesham Mohamed Qandil (also spelled: ''Hisham Kandil''; ; born 17 September 1962) is an Egyptian engineer and civil servant who was prime minister of Egypt from 2012 to 2013. Qandil was appointed as prime minister by President Mohamed Mor ...

resigned from office effective immediately in protest of the bloodshed. * The National Salvation Front condemned "all acts of violence" and called for an investigation over the incident. * The

Nour Party The al‑Nour Party (), or "Party of The Light", was one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative, Islamist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law. It has be ...

objected to the incident and stated that they would stop participating in the political transition. * The Freedom and Justice Party called for "the international community and international groups and all the free people of the world to intervene to stop further massacres ..and prevent a new Syria in the Arab world." * Former presidential candidate and

Strong Egypt Party The Strong Egypt Party () is an Egyptian centrist political party founded in 2012 by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. History The Strong Egypt Party was established in July 2012 by former Muslim Brotherhood member and ...

leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh called for interim President

Adly Mansour Adly Mahmoud Mansour (, ; born 23 December 1945) is an Egyptian judge and politician who served as the president (or chief justice) of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt. He also served as interim president of Egypt from 4 July 2013 to 8 ...

to step down in response to the clashes.

International response

* Germany – The Foreign Ministry said that it was "dismayed" over reports of the violence and called for a "speedy clarification" by an independent body into the incident. * Iran – The Foreign Ministry published a statement about recent conflicts in Egypt: "Expressing concern about Egypt's internal conflicts, we stressed the need for strict adherence to the democratic process in this country."Iran's reaction to the Egypt's clashes
/ref> * Palestine

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

expressed "extreme pain and grief for the falling of these victims". * Qatar – Qatar expressed "great concern" over the incident. * Turkey – Foreign Minister

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...

wrote on ''Twitter'': "I strongly condemn the massacre that took place at morning prayers in the name of basic human values." * United Kingdom – Foreign Secretary

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

said: "There is an urgent need for calm and restraint".

References

External links

Killing in Cairo: the full story of the Republican Guards' club shootings
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 18 July 2013 {{Egyptian Revolution of 2011, state=collapsed 2013 Egyptian coup d'état 2013 murders in Egypt 2013 riots Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014) Massacres of protesters in Africa Riots and civil disorder in Egypt Massacres in Egypt 2010s in Cairo Mass murder in Cairo 21st-century mass murder in Egypt July 2013 in Egypt July 2013 crimes in Africa Massacres in 2013 Attacks on military installations in 2013 Attacks on military installations in Egypt