'Dozens killed' as Egypt police disperse Islamist protest camps

Pro-Morsi supporters flee from Cairo's central al-Nahda Square Security forces backed by bulldozers moved in Wednesday on two huge protest camps set up in Cairo by supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, launching a long-threatened crackdown that left dozens dead. The operation began shortly after dawn when security forces surrounded the sprawling Rabaa al-Adawiya camp in east Cairo and a similar one at al-Nahda square, in the centre of the capital.
An AFP correspondent who counted 43 bodies at a makeshift morgue at the Rabaa al-Adawiya camp said many of them appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt said more than 250 people had been killed in the operation, with thousands wounded.
The group's media spokesperson Gehad el-Heddad tweeted: "250+ confirmed deaths. Drs saying most critical patients will die from their bullet wounds. over 5000 wounded. biggest massacre since #coup"
Egyptian authorities disputed the figure with an official telling state TV that the death toll stood at 15.
A spokesman from the Egyptian cabinet said the government holds Muslim Brotherhood responsible for the violence. The official also praised security forces for exercising self-control.
The interior ministry, on the other hand, said 200 Morsi supporters had been arrested, adding that security forces used only tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. It confirmed that two members of the security forces were killed on Wednesday morning.
The BBC reported that security forces were using armoured cars and bulldozers to clear the protests, while al-Jazeera reported protesters saying snipers were firing at them from the roofs of military buildings in Rabaa al-Adawiya.  
Egyptian authorities stopped all train services in and out of Cairo to prevent Morsi supporters from reassembling after being dispersed from the protest camps.
"Train services in and out of Cairo in all directions have been stopped until further notice... for security reasons and to prevent people from mobilising," the railway authority said.
Elsewhere, Morsi supporters reportedly torched a church in central Egypt on Wednesday in a reprisal attack, MENA state news agency said.
The assailants threw firebombs at Mar Gergiss church in Sohag, a city with a large community of Coptic Christians who comprise up to 10 percent of Egypt's 84 million people, causing it to burn down, the agency said.
Supporters of the ousted president also took to the streets in Alexandria, Aswan and Beni Suef, to rally against the Cairo crackdown. Activists also encircled the state building in the coastal Beheira governorates, state news agency reported.
The interior ministry on Wednesday morning had warned that security forces would move to disperse both camps, but added that it wanted to avoid bloodshed and would provide a safe exit to protesters not wanted by prosecution.
Authorities in Egypt have issued several warnings to the Islamist demonstrators to end the protests, and on Sunday police officials said security forces would besiege the two camps within 24 hours.