34 reported dead as Morsi supporters clash with special forces outside building where ousted president is being held

An Egyptian health ministry official confirmed the shooting took place outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard in Cairo, where deposed president Mohamed Morsi is currently being held. At least 34 people were killed and 300 wounded.

The Muslim Brotherhood said shots were fired at supporters of Morsi near the headquarters. The Egyptian military said “a terrorist group” had tried to storm the building, reports The Guardian

The military overthrew Morsi last Wednesday after mass nationwide demonstrations led by youth activists demanding his resignation. The Brotherhood called the intervention as a coup.

The ultra-conservative Islamist AL-Nour party, which backed the military action, said it had withdrawn from negotiations to form a new interim government in protest at what it called the “massacre of the Republican Guard”.

“We’ve announced our withdrawal from all tracks of negotiations as a first response,” Nader Bakar, spokesman for Egypt’s second biggest Islamist party, said on Facebook.

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