Two civilians killed as hundreds hold pro-Morsi rally in Egypt

Two civilians have been killed in Egypt during protest rallies held by the supporters of the country’s former president, Mohamed Morsi, on the second anniversary of his ouster, Press TV reports.

Ahmad Mahmoud, 23, was killed in clashes with security forces in the Maadi district of the capital Cairo on Friday. The second victim, called Anas Ramadan, 20, succumbed to his injuries sustained in the crackdown on protesters in the Monoufiya district of the Nile Delta.

Hundreds of demonstrators held several protests in other districts of Cairo, carrying pro-Morsi signs and chanting "down with military rule."

Egyptian security forces clashed with the protesters and used tear gas to disperse them.

Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, was toppled on July 3, 2013 in a military coup led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the country’s current president and the then army commander.

Sisi is accused of leading the crackdown on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, as hundreds of them have been killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces following the overthrow of Morsi.

The army’s suppression of Brotherhood supporters has left over 1,400 people dead and 22,000 arrested, while some 200 people have been sentenced to death in mass trials, rights groups say.

Last month, an Egyptian court upheld a death sentence against Morsi and a number of Brotherhood members, who were charged with escaping from a prison, located north of Cairo, in January 2011 during the uprising that led to the ouster of the country’s former dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

The UN Human Rights Council has repeatedly voiced concern over the Egyptian security forces’ heavy-handed crackdown and the killing of peaceful anti-government protesters.

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