Supporter of Mohammed Mursi killed during student protest in Cairo
A student was killed during an Islamist demonstration at Cairo University as Egyptian authorities continued their crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohammed Mursi.
A student was killed during an Islamist demonstration at Cairo University as Egyptian authorities continued their crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohammed Mursi.
The dead man was Mohammed Reda Mohammed Abdo, 19, a second-year engineering student, said senior health ministry official Ahmed al-Ansari and forensic authority spokesman Hisham Abdul Hamid.
The circumstances of his death on Thursday were not immediately known. Medics said that seven people were also wounded.
Witnesses said police used water cannon, tear gas and birdshot to disperse protesting students, who were demanding Mursi's reinstatement.
Mursi supporters have regularly staged protests against the military since it ousted the Islamist leader on July 3.
In recent months, they have increasingly staged demonstrations in universities.
Abdo's death is the first since interim authorities passed a disputed law requiring that organisers must give three days' notice in writing before holding a demonstration. On Tuesday, police broke up two small protests in Cairo by secular and youth movements to oppose the law, widening the authorities' crackdown, which so far has targeted Islamists.
And on Wednesday, authorities ordered the arrests of two prominent activists who led the revolt against long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The suppression of mainly secular youths is seen as the opening of a new front by the authorities, which justified deposing Mursi by saying it was responding to massive demonstrations against his rule.
