11 Dead In Egypt As Country Marks Anniversary Of 2011 Uprising

Update, Sunday, 12:30 p.m. EST: The death toll in Egypt associated with pro-democracy demonstrations on the anniversary of the country’s January 25 Revolution in 2011 has risen to 20 Sunday, according to Al Jazeera.

Update, Sunday, 11:45 a.m. EST: The death toll in Egypt associated with pro-democracy demonstrations on the anniversary of the country’s January 25 Revolution in 2011 has risen to 13 Sunday, Al Jazeera reported. The latest fatalities both were in El-Matariya.

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The death toll in Egypt climbed to 11 Sunday, as pro-democracy demonstrations continued on the anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak, Al Jazeera reported, citing government sources. Mubarak ruled as the country’s president from 1981 to 2011.

Among those killed were three in Damanhur, two in the capital city Cairo, two in the El-Matariya district just north of Cairo, two in Alexandria and two in Giza, Al Jazeera said.

A policeman was among the dead, according to BBC News, citing health officials. Dozens of protesters were also injured. Clashes between demonstrators and police escalated after the death of an activist marching in Cairo Saturday.

Government security forces have been battling dissenters since Mubarak’s elected successor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was ousted by then-army chief and now-President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in July 2013 after mass protests of Morsi’s government.

The anniversary-related mayhem encompassed a bomb that wounded two policemen at a station outside a Cairo sports club and the slaying of a demonstrator by birdshot -- used in some shotgun shells -- in the Cairo suburb of Matariya where hundreds of people protested, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the news agency also said Egyptian state television reported two militants were killed in the Nile Delta region of Baheira, about 104 miles from Cairo, when bombs they were planting exploded.

Egyptian authorities said a number of the civilian deaths were caused by security-force reactions to offensives by protesters, Al Jazeera reported. For example, they accused one of the men killed in Alexandria of shooting at police before security forces killed him.

In anticipation of the demonstrations, Egyptian officials tightened security in Cairo and other cities, Al Jazeera said. Police especially increased security at high-profile locations around the country, while sealing off several main squares in Cairo, including Tahrir, site of much of the protest activity during the January 25 Revolution of 2011.