EgyptHuman Rights

12-year boy killed as Egypt police fire bird shot at protesters

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Boy killed by Egypt police bird shot

Egyptian security forces have fired tear gas and bird shot at anti-government protesters killing one person amid recurring high tension in the country.

The 12-year-old boy identified as Arafat Kamal was killed on Friday after being hit with bird shot as he was watching protests from the balcony of his home in the Samallot area of the central province of Minya.

Clashes between security forces and protesters were also reported in the capital Cairo as well as in the cities of Giza, Suez and Daqahliya.

Several protesters were injured as security forces used excessive force against demonstrators in a number of cities. In addition, several others were arrested during the protests.

The mass protest rallies were called for to denounce plans by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to run for president in Egypt’s upcoming elections.

The rallies were also staged to mark the passing of six months since the army’s bloody crackdown on the sit-ins at Rabia al-Adawiya Square and Al-Nahda Square near Cairo university last August that left scores of people, mostly Brotherhood members, killed or injured.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 2013 when the army ousted former president, Mohamed Morsi, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament. It also appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, as the new interim president.

Last month, Amnesty International criticized Egyptian authorities for using an “unprecedented scale” of violence against protesters and dealing “a series of damaging blows to human rights.”

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