Man shot dead during pro, anti-Morsi clashes in Egypt’s Alexandria

A man has been shot and killed in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria during clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi, state media says.

Violent clashes broke out between thousands of supporters and opponents of President Morsi in Egypt’s second city of Alexandria on Friday evening.

“One citizen died of his injuries from birdshot,” the official MENA news agency said.

Sources said more than 70 people were also injured in the street protests and clashes across the troubled city.

A large number of demonstrators poured into the streets in Alexandria, in the Nile Delta city of Mansura, and in the canal city of Port Said.

Meanwhile, the opposition protesters and supporters of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood also gathered in Cairo and other towns and cities.

The fresh clashes come as spiraling violence has already claimed several lives across the North African country.

The government has deployed thousands of troops in Cairo and other tense cities, with the ruling party blaming the opposition groups for the ongoing violence across Egypt.

Several political groups say the government is dominated by Muslim Brotherhood. The opposition also accuses Morsi of deviating from the 2011 revolution that toppled the Western-backed regime of Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi’s supporters, however, say the president is cleansing Egyptian institutions of corruption. They also believe that he needs time to put into practice the principles of the 2011 revolution.

The president’s supporters have also strongly condemned the upcoming opposition rally, which marks Morsi’s first year in office, as a coup against democracy.

Egypt has witnessed continuing anti-government protests since Morsi took office in June 2012 in a landmark election held following the ouster of Mubarak.