At least 30 killed in Cairo protest crackdown

Egyptian security forces killed at least 30 people on Wednesday when they cleared a camp of Cairo protesters who were demanding the reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Mursi, his Muslim Brotherhood movement said.

There was no official confirmation of the deaths at Rabaa al-Adawiya, in northeast Cairo, where thousands of Mursi supporters awoke to police helicopters circling over the site.

A second camp near Cairo University was swiftly cleared in the early morning.

Gunfire rang out as protesters ran away from Rabaa, and clouds of black smoke rose above the sites. Armoured vehicles moved in alongside bulldozers which began clearing away tents, and one witness said he saw 15 bodies at a field hospital.