Earlier today Egyptian security forces sent bulldozers and riot police to break up protest camps belonging to supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The raids set off clashes that have resulted in dozens of deaths, reportedly as high as 150, and as many as 1,400 injuries. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition to disperse the protesters who had been in place for six weeks, demanding Morsi's return. Several fires erupted, destroying makeshift campsites and killing some of the people inside. The government has now imposed a state of emergency, as Egypt braces for a possible further escalation of the violence.
Deadly Crackdown in Egypt
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A supporter of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi holds another as Egyptian security forces move in to clear a protest by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in the eastern Nasr City district of Cairo, Egypt, on August 14, 2013. Egyptian security forces, backed by armored cars and bulldozers, moved to clear two sit-in camps by supporters of Morsi, showering protesters with tear gas as the sound of gunfire rang out at both sites. #
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Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood chant slogans as they demonstrate near the largest sit-in by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Egypt, on August 14, 2013. #
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Riot police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi during clashes at Rabaa Adawiya square, where they are camping, in Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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An Egyptian woman tries to stop a military bulldozer from hurting a wounded youth during clashes that broke out as Egyptian security forces moved in to disperse supporters of deposed President Morsi in a huge protest camp near Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in eastern Cairo, on August 14, 2013. The fate of the young man is not certain, but at the time of taking these photos he was seriously injured having been shot by birdshot. #
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Click to view imageA dead body of a supporter of deposed President Morsi lies on the ground near Cairo University and Nahdet Misr Square, where they were camping in Giza, south of Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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Smoke rises from a building by a sit-in camp set up by supporters of ousted President Morsi near Cairo University as Egyptian security forces clear the camp in Cairo's Giza district, on August 14, 2013. #
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(1 of 3) A police vehicle is pushed falls off of the 6th of October bridge by protesters close to the largest sit-in by supporters of ousted President Morsi in Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
Video taken from a second angle appears to show the vehicle fell while backing away, and was not pushed over, as originally reported. -
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(2 of 3) A member of Egypt's security forces lies on the ground and another on his police vehicle that fell from the 6th of October bridge by protesters in Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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(3 of 3) An Egyptian security force member is dragged and stripped of his vest by protesters after his police vehicle fell from the 6th of October bridge in Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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Plumes of smoke rise from a damaged gas station during a violent crackdown by Egyptian Security Forces on a pro-Morsi sit-in demonstration at the Rabaa al-Adweya Mosque in Cairo's Nasr City district, on August 14, 2013. #
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A supporter of ousted President Morsi tries to extinguish a fire at their sit-in camp as Egyptian security forces cleared the camp near Cairo University, on August 14, 2013. #
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Click to view image(Warning, graphic image) Burned bodies of members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi supporters lie on the ground around Cairo University and Nahdet Misr Square, where they were camping in Giza, south of Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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A supporter of deposed President Morsi reacts after identifying the body of a dead family member at of the Rabaa al-Adaweya Medical Center in Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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Click to view imageSupporters ousted President Morsi count bodies in a makeshift morgue after police swept into their encampment with armored vehicles and bulldozers in the Nasr City district of Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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Morsi supporters throw rocks while taking cover among debris during a violent crackdown by Egyptian Security Forces on a pro-Morsi sit-in demonstration at the Rabaa al-Adweya Mosque in the Nasr City district of Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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Click to view imageA man grieves as he looks at one of many bodies laid out in a makeshift morgue after Egyptian security forces stormed two huge protest camps at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and Al-Nahda squares in Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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A Morsi supporter reacts as she looks at wounded people in Cairo's Nasr City district, on August 14, 2013. Egyptian police in riot gear swept in with armored vehicles and bulldozers to clear two sprawling encampments of supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president in Cairo, showering protesters with tear gas as the sound of gunfire rang out. #
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Fire burns in Cairo's al-Nahda square as Egyptian police dispersed supporters of ousted President Morsi (seen in portrait) in two huge protest camps in the Egyptian capital, on August 14, 2013. #
Hassan Mohamed/AFP/Getty Images -
Morsi supporters take shelter inside a construction site during a violent crackdown by Egyptian Security Forces on a pro-Morsi sit-in demonstration at the Rabaa al-Adweya Mosque in the Nasr City district of Cairo, on August 14, 2013. #
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A Morsi supporter shoots a slingshot toward Egyptian security forces during clashes in Rabaah Al-Adawiya in Cairo's Nasr City district, on August 14, 2013. A state of emergency has been declared in Egypt to begin this afternoon and will reportedly last for one month. #
AP Photo/Manu Brabo
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