As the Egyptian government ignores President Obama and the Egyptian military continues its efforts to clear out demonstrators from pro-Morsi encampments, varying reports on the number of dead continue to pour in.
The Jerusalem Post reports 72 dead on August 16th alone. The 16th marked the third day on which the Egyptian military came up against pro-Morsi supporters in a bid to clear them out of the camps they set up in June.
On the first day of clashes–August 14th–Breitbart News reported 149 dead; by the morning of the 16th, Reuters reported over 600 dead in total.
From the time of Morsi’s ouster on July 3rd until now, DefenseOne.com reports Egypt’s General Abdul Fattah al-Sissi has ignored calls from Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel all asking him to resolve the tensions in Egypt in a “peaceful” manner.
Complicating matters, the Muslim Brotherhood is now calling for a week of protests in Egypt, protests which could accelerate and intensify the clashes we have seen to date.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.