Eleven People Killed at Cairo Protest

Number of deaths in Abbasiya incidents has reached about eleven people at protests against Egypt’s ruling generals near the defense ministry in Cairo, officials say. Witnesses described how the attackers set on them at dawn using rocks, clubs, firebombs and firing shotguns.

Up to 100 people were also reportedly injured and are being treated at a field clinic in the Abbasiya district.

Many of the protesters are supporters of a Salafi preacher barred from standing in the presidential election.

Hazem Abu Ismail was disqualified because his mother held dual Egyptian-US citizenship, violating rules laid out in a constitutional declaration approved after an uprising forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says the strong suspicion is that the men who attacked Mr Abu Ismail’s supporters were hired by the government to break up a demonstration that has now being going on for several days.