Egypt group criticizes police over sit-in breakup
Hundreds of pro-Mursi protesters were killed when security forces stormed their sit-in last year
Egypt's government-appointed human rights council has blamed security forces for using excessive gunfire and failing to protect peaceful supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president during a crackdown on their sit-in last summer that killed hundreds.
The National Council for Human Rights, however, said gunmen inside the encampment shot at police officers, escalating the violence at the sit-in outside Rabaa al-Adawiyah mosque on Aug. 14.
The council's report, released Wednesday, is the first official investigation into the breakup of the weekslong sit-in by Mohammad Mursi supporters.
Although the report holds protest organizers responsible for allowing armed men in, it offers a rare criticism of Egyptian security agencies' excessive use of force to break up the sit-in.
The council said the violence killed 624 civilians and eight police officers.
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