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Three protesters killed on anniversary of Egypt uprising as tension grows

Three people were killed during pro-democracy protests in Egypt and a bomb wounded two policemen on Sunday, the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, security sources said.

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Egyptians hold banners during the funeral procession of Shaima al-Sabbagh, an Egyptian protester who was killed in clashes with the police, on January 25, 2015 in Egypt`s second city Alexandria. Shaima al-Sabbagh died of birdshot wounds, a health ministry spokesman said, after she was injured during clashes with police during a rare leftwing protest in central Cairo, the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak. AFP PHOTO
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Three people were killed during pro-democracy protests in Egypt and a bomb wounded two policemen on Sunday, the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, security sources said.

The anniversary is a test of whether Islamists and liberal activists facing one of Egypt's toughest crackdowns have the resolve to challenge the US-backed government once again. Security forces have been stamping out dissent in Egypt since then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted elected president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

Dozens of protesters were killed during last year's anniversary of the revolt. This time, security forces were taking no chances, fanning out across the capital and elsewhere. Riot police backed by soldiers in armoured vehicles sealed off strategic roads, including those leading to Cairo's Tahrir Square, symbolic heart of the 2011 revolt.

A protester died on Sunday from birdshot wounds in Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city, the security sources said. The Interior Ministry said the man was armed. A Health Ministry official said the man was 52 years old. Two people were killed in the Cairo suburb of Matariya, a Brotherhood stronghold, as hundreds demonstrated, the health ministry said. Some chanted "down with military rule" and "a revolution all over again".

Three policemen were wounded in clashes in Matariya, the state news agency reported. Hundreds also protested near the journalists syndicate in Cairo, a witness said. Separately, a bomb wounded two policemen stationed outside a Cairo sports club, security sources said. In a rare gesture of defiance, Mursi supporters gathered near Tahrir and held up photographs of him, a witness said. Police rounded them up. Security sources said 70 Muslim Brotherhood supporters were arrested in Alexandria and another 12 rounded up near Tahrir.


Mourners carry the coffin of Shaima al-Sabbagh, an Egyptian protester who was killed in clashes with the police, during her funeral on January 25, 2015 in Egypt`s second city Alexandria. Shaima al-Sabbagh died of birdshot wounds, a health ministry spokesman said, after she was injured during clashes with police during a rare leftwing protest in central Cairo, the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.  AFP PHOTO

A curfew imposed in north Sinai had been extended for three months, authorities said. Islamist militants based in the Sinai Peninsula have killed hundreds of police and soldiers since Mursi's removal. They have pledged support for Islamic State, the ultra-hardline group that seized parts of Iraq and Syria. After four years of political and economic turmoil following Mubarak's fall, many Egyptians have overlooked allegations of widespread human rights abuses and praised Sisi for restoring a measure of stability.Sisi, who served as military intelligence chief under Mubarak, also took bold steps to repair the economy, such as cutting costly fuel subsidies.

But there have been signs of discontent in the run-up to the anniversary of the 18-day revolt. "The situation is the same as it was four years ago and it is getting worse. The regime did not fall yet," said engineer Alaa Lasheen, 34. In a televised address on Saturday, Sisi praised the desire for change that Egyptians showed four years ago but said it would take patience to achieve all of "the revolution's goals".

Sisi says his government is committed to democracy. Human rights groups accuse him of restoring authoritarian rule to Egypt, a strategic US ally influential across the Arab world. Opponents say new laws, including one restricting protests, have rolled back freedoms won in the uprising that ended three decades of iron-fisted rule under Mubarak. Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric based in Qatar who supports the Brotherhood, called for protests on Sunday and said Mursi was Egypt's "legitimate" leader.

Qaradawi's outspoken support for the Islamist movement has fueled a diplomatic rift between Qatar and its Gulf Arab allies, which like Cairo consider the Islamist group a security threat. In Egypt, a crackdown has largely ended demonstrations, but several took place in the past week in Cairo and Alexandria. A woman protester was shot dead on Saturday near Tahrir. Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said on Sunday liberal activist Shaimaa Sabbagh was shot in the face and back. About 1,000 people marched in her funeral procession, a witness said.

"Shaima was killed in cold blood." Medhat al-Zahid, vice president of the Socialist Popular Alliance party that Sabbagh belonged to, told a news conference. Interior Ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif said an investigation into her death had begun, adding: "No one is above the law."

Also Read: Egypt court overturns 545 life, death sentences; orders retrial

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