Update - 6 Protesters Killed İn Cairo: Pro-Morsi Bloc

The death toll rose to six protesters on Friday as security forces dispersed rallies staged by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, sources from Morsi's main support bloc have said.

Four protesters were shot dead with live ammunition and another one with birdshot when security forces dispersed a rally in eastern Cairo's Matariya district, a source from the pro-Morsi National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy told Anadolu Agency.

A number of other protesters were also injured, the source said.

Earlier Friday, another source from the pro-Morsi alliance said security forces had fired on a protest in the Al-Zeitoun district near Matariya, killing a boy with a gunshot to the abdomen and injuring an unspecified number of others.

The source said army and police forces had attacked the protest with live ammunition and teargas.

The Egyptian government could not be immediately reached for comment. But Egypt's military-backed authorities routinely deny allegations that they use live ammunition to disperse demonstrations.

Clashes broke out in several other parts of the country on Friday as security forces dispersed pro-Morsi demonstrations staged to mark the passage of one year since the elected president's forcible removal from office by the military.

Friday's protests come as part of earlier calls for a week of protests by the pro-Morsi alliance to mark one year since the July 3 ouster of the country's first democratically elected president.

At least three protesters and one police officer were killed on Thursday during rallies staged by Morsi supporters in different parts of Egypt.

Since Morsi's overthrow one year ago, Egypt's military-backed authorities have waged a fierce crackdown on his supporters, leaving hundreds dead and tens of thousands said to be detained.

Morsi, a leader of Egypt's embattled Muslim Brotherhood group, was removed from office by the military following massive opposition protests that began on June 30 of last year.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who was declared the winner of May presidential polls, is widely seen as the chief orchestrator of Morsi's ouster and subsequent imprisonment.

While Morsi supporters describe his ouster as an illegitimate "military coup," his critics call it an "army-backed uprising."

By Islam Mosaad

englishnews@aa.com.tr

www.aa.com.tr/en - Kahire