Egypt: Death Toll Now At 75 As New Islamist Group Arms Itself, Calls Military Coup A ‘War Against Islam’

It’s a “war against Islam.” That wasn’t hard to figure out …

By JAMES RUSH, JILL REILLY and JAYMI MCCANN, Mail Online – “A newly formed Islamist group is threatening to use violence to impose Sharia law on Egypt after branding the army’s ousting of the Muslim president a declaration of war on its faith.

Ansar al-Shariah in Egypt said it would gather arms and start training its members, in a statement posted on an online forum for militants in the country’s Sinai region yesterday and recorded by the SITE Monitoring organisation. The army’s move, which was backed by mass rallies across Egypt, has raised fears Islamists could desert officially-recognised groups like Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and move to more militant movements.

The group’s sinister declaration came as fierce clashes between supporters and opponents of the ousted president overnight left 36 dead and a further 1,079 injured, and a Coptic Christian priest was shot dead by gunmen in a suspected sectarian attack blamed on Islamist insurgents. The latest fatalities brings the overall death toll to at least 75 in a chaotic week for Egypt.

The most deadly clashes were in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, where 14 people died and 200 were wounded. In central Cairo, pro and anti-Morsi protesters fought pitched battles late into the night with stones, knives, petrol bombs and clubs as armoured personnel carriers rumbled among them. It took hours to restore calm.

The Nile River bridges around the landmark Egyptian Museum where the street fights raged were still covered with the debris of rocks and shattered glass this morning…

Ansar al-Shariah said in its statement the military overthrow, the closing of television channels and the death of Islamist protesters all amounted to ‘a war declared against Islam in Egypt’, SITE reported.

The group blamed the events on secularists, supporters of Mubarak and Egyptian Coptic Christians, state security forces and army commanders, who they said would turn the country into ‘a crusader, secular freak’.

It denounced democracy and said it would instead champion Islamic law, or sharia, acquire weapons and train to allow Muslims to ‘deter the attackers, preserve the religion and empower the sharia of the Lord’, SITE reported. ” Read more.

Cairo Residents: ‘Heavily Armed Islamists Attacked Us’ – “‘The Brotherhood attacked the area with all kinds of weapons,’ said resident Mohammed Yehya, who lost three of his friends in the mayhem. Inhabitants of the Nile island of Manial reported seeing dozens of bearded Islamists armed with machineguns, machetes and sticks … Buildings were pockmarked with bullet holes. Rocks carpeted the floor and charred tyres showed the ferocity of the violence… Residents say the attack began just minutes after the Brotherhood’s supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, gave a fiery speech to Mursi supporters camped out in Cairo’s Nasr City, which was broadcast live on television.” Read more.