Egypt plunged deeper into chaos after a three-hour battle in Cairo left at least 51 protesters and three members of the security forces dead and crushed efforts to form a new government.
Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi accused the army of opening fire on worshipers at a sit-in after dawn prayers, shooting some demonstrators in the back as they fled.
“They shot us with tear gas, birdshot, rubber bullets — everything. Then they used live bullets,” said Abdelaziz Abdel Shakua, 30, who was wounded in his right leg.
But the army said the carnage began when “terrorist” gunmen lurking among the sit-in protesters killed a soldier and two cops and critically wounded six others with gunfire and Molotov cocktails.
The mayhem, outside the Republican Guard headquarters, where Morsi is believed to be held, ended with at least 435 people injured.
The death toll was the highest from any incident since the crisis began last month, and Egyptians of all factions demanded an investigation into what happened.
The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, called on all Egyptians to join a nationwide “uprising” against the army today.
“The only thing the military understands is force, and they are trying to force people into submission,” said Marwan Mosaad, a Brotherhood leader, speaking at a field hospital run by Morsi’s supporters
The ultraconservative Al-Nour Party, which had supported Morsi’s ouster and is crucial to forming a new government, backed out of negotiations because of what it called the “massacre.”
The White House said it still has not determined whether the army’s ousting of Morsi is a coup, which would force the United States to cut off aid to Egypt.
“To be blunt, there are significant consequences that go along with this determination, and it is a highly charged issue for millions of Egyptians who have different views about what happened,” presidential spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
A State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, even refused to say whether the United States considers Morsi to be out of office. “It’s a very fluid situation on the ground,” she said.
But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said, “It is difficult for me to conclude that what happened was anything other than a coup in which the military played a decisive role.”