Death toll rises to 13 in Egypt violence

Cairo: Unrest continued in Egypt for the fifth consecutive day as another protester was killed in clashes with the police, raising the toll in the current bout of violence over the bloodiest `football riot` to 13. The anger against the ruling military continues to boil after 74 people died in football-related violence which began after a Wednesday soccer riot in Port Said.

Amid calls by activists for civil disobedience in Egypt and continued unrest, an eighth protester died earlier today bringing the death toll to 13 in clashes between police forces and protesters since Thursday. Protesters believe the violence at the match to be the result of security negligence and instigation by police forces.

Mohamed Qenawy, 21, was shot in the neck and chest with birdshot, according to a statement by Assistant Health Minister, Hesham Shiha. News reports said on Sunday that some security officials in Port Said were implicated in the violence, and some individuals arrested said they had been hired by officials from the dissolved National Democratic Party.

The streets around the Interior Ministry, the focal point of the Cairo clashes, were calm today. Traffic movement returned to normal in Tahrir Square, though some protesters and street vendors remained on the square`s central island. Hit-and-run battles ensued between both sides last night. Police forces fired a barrage of tear gas and sound bombs while hundreds assembled in the nearby Bab al-Louq and chanted anti-military slogans.