Sixty-one protesters were arrested nationwide Friday after the latest round of post-prayer protests, the Ministry of Interior reported.
![Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood chant slogans and raise four fingers, the symbol known as "Rabaa", which means four in Arabic, remembering those killed in the crackdown on the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp in Cairo last year, during a demonstration in Cairo on January 24, 2014. A suicide bomber struck Cairo police headquarters on Friday, the first of three bombings in the Egyptian capital that killed five people ahead of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising. Arabic writing on placards reads "Void, Execute [Egypt's Defence Minister army chief Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi". AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD KHALED](/app/uploads/2014/01/127186-01-02.jpg)
In a statement, the ministry said a number of the arrested “Brotherhood terrorist elements” allegedly had pistols and ammunition, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks. The statement also alleged that a Brotherhood ‘leader’ was arrested.
State news agency MENA reported that security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters on Giza’s Haram Road.
Cairo’s Alf Maskan neighbourhood saw “intense” clashes between security forces and protesters aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, according to state-run Al-Ahram. Alf Maskan has become a weekly bastion of pro-Morsi resistance, with weekly clashes erupting after Friday prayers.
Al-Ahram also reported that tear gas was fired in Giza’s Imbaba after protesters chanted against the army and police.
At least nine people have died during Friday protests over the last three weeks. Five died 28 March, including Mayada Ashraf, a 22 year old Al-Dostour journalist who was shot in the head in Cairo’s Ain Shams district.
Ashraf’s last dispatch from the fatal march noted that both security forces and protesters were armed. A forensic report issued shortly after her death found that she was shot in the back of the head, although it is still unclear which side shot her.
