MESIR menghitung hari ´pertumpahan darah´ yang kian meluas setelah pemerintah yang didukung militer bertindak represif terhadap para pendukung presiden terguling Mohammed Morsi dan menyatakan keadaan darurat.
Setidaknya 525 orang tewas dan 1.400 terluka di seluruh Mesir, sebagian besar korban tewas dan cedera terjadi di Kairo, seperti dilansir Mail Online.
Pasukan keamanan di ibukota Mesir menggunakan mobil lapis baja, buldoser dan helikopter untuk membubarkan dua pusat konsentrasi yang didukung kelompok Ikhwanul Muslimin.
Laporan menyebutkan bahwa penembak jitu dan senapan mesin digunakan untuk menghadapi demonstran, sementara Ikhwanul mengklaim ratusan pemrotes tewas.
Dua wartawan juga tewas, juru kamera Sky News, Mick Deane, 61 tahun, dan wartawan Abd Elaziz, 26, yang bekerja untuk Gulf News.
Tindak kekerasan tersebut dikutuk oleh masyarakat internasional dan mendorong pengunduran diri wakil presiden Mohamed ElBaradei.
Pemenang Hadiah Nobel Perdamaian dan pemimpin pro-reformasi memilih mundur setelah mengatakan ia tidak siap untuk bertanggung jawab meskipun bagi ´setetes darah´ korban.
Morsi telah ditahan di sebuah lokasi yang dirahasiakan sejak digulingkan oleh gelombang protes yang didukung pihak militer pada awal Juli.
Dia hanya berkuasa kurang dari setahun di Mesir setelah terpilih secara demokratis untuk pertama kalinya di negara itu, di tengah tuduhan dari lawan politiknya bahwa dia mengabaikan masalah ekonomi Mesir dalam mempromosikan agenda Islam dan berubah menjadi seorang diktator.
Para anggota senior Ikhwanul Muslimin terpilih setelah revolusi 2011 yang menggulingkan penguasa
otoriter
Presiden Hosni Mubarak, tetapi masyarakat internasional mengatakan prospek demokratis di Mesir tampaknya makin sulit dicapai akibat meningkatnya tindak kekerasan.
Jatuhnya banyak korban tewas setelah setidaknya 250 orang tewas dalam bentrokan sejak berlangsungnya kudeta kedua.
Dalam sebuah pernyataan tertulis, Ikhwanul Muslimin mengatakan: "Dunia tidak bisa duduk saja dan menonton ketika pria, wanita dan anak-anak yang tidak bersalah tanpa pandang bulu dibantai. Dunia harus bertindak menghadapi kejahatan junta militer sebelum semuanya terlambat."
Juru bicara Gedung Putih Josh Earnest tidak mengatakan apakah pertumpahan darah akan mendorong AS memotong bantuan militer senilai US$1,3 miliar kepada Mesir, sebagai negara berpenduduk terpadat di Arab.
"Dunia menyaksikan apa yang terjadi di Kairo," katanya. "Kami mendesak pemerintah Mesir - dan semua pihak di Mesir - untuk menahan diri dari kekerasan dan menyelesaikan perbedaan mereka secara damai."
Kantor perdana menteri Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan mengatakan kekerasan adalah ´pukulan serius bagi harapan kembali ke demokrasi´.
Dan David Cameron mengatakan tindakan pasukan keamanan ´tidak akan menyelesaikan apa-apa´
´Apa yang diperlukan di Mesir merupakan transisi murni untuk demokrasi yang sejati. Itu berarti kompromi dari semua pihak - para pendukung Presiden Morsi tetapi juga militer - itulah yang harus terjadi," kata perdana menteri Inggris, seperti dilansir metro.co.uk.
"Kami tidak mendukung kekerasan ini, kami mengutuk sepenuhnya, itu tidak akan memecahkan masalah."
EGYPT is counting the cost of a day of widespread bloodshed after the military-backed government moved against supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi and declared a state of emergency.
At least 525 people were killed and 1,400 wounded nationwide, with the majority of deaths and injuries occurring in Cairo.
In the capital security forces used armoured cars, bulldozers and helicopters to disperse two sit-in protest camps created by Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
There were reports that snipers and machine guns were used against protesters, with the Brotherhood itself claiming hundreds had died.
Two journalists were among the dead; Sky News’s 61-year-old British cameraman Mick Deane and 26-year-old reporter Abd Elaziz, who worked for Gulf News.
The violence has been condemned worldwide and led to the resignation of vice-president Mohamed ElBaradei.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-reform leader quit after saying he was not prepared to be held responsible for a ‘single drop of blood’.
Mr Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location since being ousted by the military following mass popular protests in July.
He spent less than a year in power after becoming the country’s first-ever democratically-elected president, amid accusations from opponents he was neglecting Egypt’s economic problems in promoting his Islamist agenda and had become a dictator in all but name.
The senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood had been elected following the 2011 revolution that toppled autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak, but the international community said the prospect of a democratic Egypt seemed further away today given the violence.
Today’s deaths come after at least 250 people died in clashes since the second coup.
In a written statement, the Brotherhood said: ‘The world cannot sit back and watch while innocent men, women and children are being indiscriminately slaughtered. The world must stand up to the military junta’s crime before it is too late."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest did not say whether the bloodshed would see the US cut off its $1.3billion (£838million military aid to Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country.
‘The world is watching what is happening in Cairo,’ he said. ‘We urge the government of Egypt – and all parties in Egypt – to refrain from violence and resolve their differences peacefully.’
The office of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the violence was a ‘serious blow to the hopes of a return to democracy’.
And David Cameron said the actions of the security forces were ‘not going to solve anything’
‘What is required in Egypt is a genuine transition to a genuine democracy. That means compromise from all sides – the President Morsi supporters but also the military – that’s what needs to happen,’ the UK prime minister said.
‘We don’t support this violence, we condemn it completely, it’s not going to solve the problems.’