Death toll from clashes in Egypt rises to 11

CAIRO - The death toll from two days of clashes between supporters and foes of Egypt's ousted president rose to 11 Tuesday, most killed in predawn street battles near a pro-Mohammed Morsi protest camp as the country remained mired in turmoil three weeks after the military overthrew the Islamist leader.

The bloodshed is widening the divisions between Morsi's supporters and the military-backed administration that took over after his ouster. Fueling anger is the detention of Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader, who has been held incommunicado and without charge.

Early Wednesday, security officials said a bomb blast just after midnight in front of a security building in the provincial capital of Mansoura injured 16 people, some of them civilians. Security officials said police forces surrounded the building after the explosion and exchanged fire with unidentified gunmen inside.

Violence has frequently broken out amid persistent rival demonstrations between the two sides, but the running street battles that began before dawn Tuesday were among the most intense since the crisis began July 3.

Clashes broke out after Morsi supporters began marching from their sit-in outside the main campus of Cairo University to a nearby mosque. The protesters blocked roads, causing massive traffic jams and angering residents.

Security officials said the fighting turned deadly after masked gunmen appeared at the scene and started shooting at the Morsi supporters with live ammunition and birdshot. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, had no word on the identity of the gunmen.

The Muslim Brotherhood blamed the killings on "thugs" sponsored by the Interior Ministry, an allegation the Islamist group from which Morsi hails often uses to dismiss the notion that it was at odds with other segments of the population.

Khaled el-Khateeb, who heads the Health Ministry's emergency and intensive-care department, said six people were killed near the pro-Morsi sit-in. The security officials put the toll at seven killed and 11 injured.

In a separate development, two rights groups - Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International - urged Egyptian authorities to investigate a spate of attacks against Christians. At least six Christians have been killed and scores injured in at least six provinces since July 3.