Nine people were killed in clashes between the police and supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi camping at the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in in the early hours of Saturday, according to announcements from the the sit-in stage. 

The clashes started in the late evening on Friday when protesters from the Rabea al-Adaweya Mosque marched toward the October 6 Bridge and started blocking its entrance on Nasr Street, eyewitnesses said. The police intervened and fired tear gas to disperse them. Clashes started shortly after, and birdshot was fired. Some eyewitnesses said the police used live ammunition, but Mada Masr could not confirm this. 

When Mada Masr arrived on the scene, policemen in civilian clothes were already guarding the bridge. Special forces, identifiable from their uniforms, were also deployed close to the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in, Mada Masr’s reporter observed. 

Rabea al-Adaweya protesters sent trucks, ambulances and private cars to carry the injured from near the bridge to the sit-in. They also built a wall to stop the police from advancing towards the sit-in.

Al Jazeera showed footage of the sit-in’s field hospital of injured people, with injuries mostly to the chest and head.

The Ministry of Interior had said in a statement on Friday that the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in would be dispersed in a “legal way,” as well as the pro-Morsi Nahda sit-in near Giza Square. However, in a statement also released on Friday, the military’s spokesperson denied reports that Morsi’s supporters were given an ultimatum to disperse.

Meanwhile, the Ambulance Authority reported Friday that six men were killed in clashes in Alexandria as Egypt witnessed a day of protests in response to the Armed Forces Chief Commander Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s call for people to take to the streets to mandate the military to confront violence and “terrorism.”  

The men were killed as supporters of Morsi clashed with their opponents near Al-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque in central Alexandria. According to hospital authorities cited by the Middle East News Agency, dozens were injured in the clashes with birdshot and live ammunition. Eyewitnesses said Morsi’s supporters kept some protesters from the other camp hostage inside the mosque, and the families of the hostages angrily surrounded the mosque. 

Sisi’s call followed more than two weeks of ongoing violence as supporters of Morsi clashed with their opponents in several cities. Morsi was deposed on July 3 through a military statement following mass protests demanding his resignation. 

The privately-owned ONTv satellite channel showed clashes from earlier on Friday between protesters and Morsi supporters marching in Cairo. In Shubra, Mohamed Baryan, 24, told Mada Masr, “Shortly after Friday prayers, a pro-Morsi group came down the main street chanting for the president and legitimacy. People didn’t like what they had to say so they went to try and contain them. There was some pushing and shoving but they left. Immediately afterwards, we find another group coming down on a side street, firing birdshot and throwing rocks at us.”

Islam Ahmed, 36, said he heard shots from a side street at around 1 pm. He says he ran toward the street and saw “blood and rocks on the ground.” 

“People were throwing rocks at the pro-Morsi march coming down the street, trying to get them to retreat, which they did eventually.” He added that he didn’t see any police intervention and confirms birdshot being fired. As the situation calmed down, anti-Morsi protesters continued their march, chanting, “Why are you silent? Are you a terrorist?” Vendors in the area selling shirts with Sisi’s picture printed shouted, “Sisi! LE30!”

Shortly after, a pick-up truck stopped near the march and started giving away free pro-army signs. When asked who sent these signs, the driver of the truck told Mada Masr, “A do-gooder. Don’t make a big fuss out of it.” 

In Tahrir Square, a message from the main stage warned protesters not to sign papers delegating the army to disperse sit-ins, clarifying that the Armed Forces does not need to written mandates.

Several Central Security Forces trucks and military armored vehicles were stationed near the square. Military planes were flying at a low altitude over the square. 

Next to the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace, armored vehicles were stationed at the entrances of Mirghani Street, where protesters started to flock. At the main stage of the street, a sign of a bearded US President Barak Obama was on display, another sign of protesters’ rejection of the United States’ alleged support for Morsi when he was president and its critical position toward the Armed Forces for ousting Morsi. Similarly, in Alexandria, a Wall Street Journal correspondent posted a picture on its Twitter account of Russian President Vladimir Putin in front of the Sidi Gaber train station, next to that of Sisi, with a sign reading, “bye bye US.”

Photos of Sisi were both distributed and sold near different spots of protests in Egypt. Signs were hung in various streets showing popular endorsement for the Armed Forces and its commander. 

Both state and privately-owned media ran editorials in support of Sisi and the Armed Forces and posted maps for planned marches across the country today. Private satellite channels announced that they would not air the daily Ramadan series in order to focus their coverage on the protests and encourage people to take part.

On Friday the pro-Morsi sit-in at Rabea al-Adaweya announced that several marches supporting the deposed president and opposing the Armed Forces would head to their two major sit-ins, in Nahda and in Rabea al-Adaweya, the Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice portal reported. 

Near Nahda Square, where the pro-Morsi sit-in has been the site of several clashes with residents from nearby neighborhoods, armored military vehicles were deployed. Just outside the sit-in, scattered groups of anti-Morsi protesters were chanting.

Commenting on Sisi’s call for protests at the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in, Hassan Shaaban, 29, says, “Sisi divided the people even more than they was already divided. He is a civil servant. It’s not his job to make such announcements.”

Hassan expressed anger about the Church’s role in the mass protests starting June 30 that led to the army announcing Morsi’s ouster. “I’m angry that Copts are against Morsi because I’m against religion in politics.”

“If this army was genuinely a free, national army, it would have discussed the roadmap with Morsi while he was still in power,” he adds.

As Mada Masr was talking to Shaaban, military helicopters dropped flags. Shaaban interpreted this as an admission by Sisi that he had done wrong when he described Morsi’s supporters as terrorists. He noted that the army had previously dropped written threats.

For 24-year-old accountant Emad Ahmed, Sisi’s speech was a clear admission that what happened on July 3 was a coup. He described the speech as “irresponsible” because of the violence that would result and because “he is setting half the population against the other half.”

Commenting on widespread support for Sisi, Ahmed suggested that it was drummed up by the remnants of the Hosni Mubarak regime and soldiers dressed as civilians. Ahmed added that Sisi is “rewinding the history tape”  by using Mubarak-era tactics, referring in particular to the description of Islamists as terrorists.