At least three supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi were killed on Friday by gunfire, as a crowd of several hundred tried to march towards the military barracks in Cairo where the deposed president is believed to be held.
Al Jazeera’s Matthew Cassel, reporting from near the military barracks, said several dozen people were also injured by shotgun pellets fired by the army.
“One protester broke away from the rally to stick a pro-Morsi poster on the barbed-wire around the barracks. He was shot in the head with birdshot,” he said.
Security forces were cordoning the Republican Guard barracks but it was not immediately clear who had opened fire.
An army spokesman denied that troops opened fire on supporters, saying that soldiers were using only blank rounds and tear gas, to disperse thr crowd. It was unclear whether security forces other than the army were present at the time.
The interior ministry also denied that people were killed in the clashes outside the Republican Guards club.
Also on Friday, Adly Mansour, the newly appointed interim head of state, dissolved parliament by decree, state television said.
Only the upper house, the Shura Council, had remained active after the lower house was dissolved by military-led authorities shortly before Morsi was elected a year ago.
