A Christian priest was shot to death in the Sinai Peninsula after former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's ousting from office prompted demonstrations and rioting that left more than 36 people killed between Friday and Saturday.
Coptic clergyperson Mina Aboud Sharween suffered a brutal attack Saturday afternoon while walking in the Masaeed zone of El Arish, located close to the Gaza Strip, the Guardian reported.
Following the copt's death, members of the Muslim Brotherhood-a group of which Morsi is an affiliate-pointed fingers at Pope Tawadros, the religious leader of nearly 8 million Egyptians that comprise the Coptic population. They claimed that he gave his blessing to eliminate Morsi from the presidency, in addition to ministering General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's announcement of the suspension of the country's constitution.
Morsi's supporters have sworn that they will fight until the former president is put back into office. Meanwhile, the opposition has planned for more rallies to fight for what they are calling the "gains of June 30," a name that gives a nod to the beginning of the mass demonstrations that culminated in a military coup that removed Morsi from his seat.
On Friday night, the two groups clashed violently in Cairo and other cities in the nation, the Guardian reported. More than 36 people were killed amongst the widespread violence.
By Saturday morning, after almost 24 hours' worth of combat between supporters and the opposition, the streets were littered with the remains of the fight: rocks, glass and bullet casings were strewn about various areas of the capital, along with Alexandria and Beni Suef.
In Cairo, 19-year-old salesman Anas Abdel Rahim told the Guardian that a man tacked a Morsi poster onto the barbed-wire fencing of the Republican Guards building.
"Then he walked back," he said. "Then someone wearing civilian clothes [on the army's side of the line] came to take the poster off the fence. People started shouting. He left it. He went to a soldier. They had a conversation. After the conversation, the guy in civilian clothes started shooting."
Chaos ensued, as Ahmed Mohamed recounted to the Guardian. Demonstrators took off running while security officials set off teargas and birdshot.
"They started shooting, people started running. I was praying, and I got shot," Mohamed said.
