The US has cancelled joint exercises with Egypt’s military but stopped short of suspending aid to Cairo as western leaders grapple with how best to respond to a bloody crackdown on Islamists.
At least 525 were killed in clashes between security forces and Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Cairo and elsewhere, according to official figures yesterday. The rising toll meant that Wednesday’s raid by authorities on Brotherhood protest camps, set up after a July 3 coup that ousted former president Mohamed Morsi, was the deadliest day in Egypt since the 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak.
In a statement that appeared to be a prelude to a formal ban of the group, the military-backed government accused “elements” of the Brotherhood of carrying out “terrorist acts”.