Protesters, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, run from tear gas thrown by police, during a protest in the Matariya area in Cairo, August 14, 2014.

Three people were killed in the Egyptian capital Friday as supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammad Mursi held scattered protests for a second straight day, a year after the mass killing of protesters at two Cairo sit-ins.

Clashes erupted at one protest between Mursi supporters and local residents. Two people were killed in the fighting and four police were wounded as they tried to disperse the crowd in the Giza district, according to security officials.

At another protest in Giza, demonstrators fired birdshot, set off fireworks and tried to block a road. One of the protesters was killed when police moved in to disperse the group, a statement from the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police said, adding that the man was armed.

In a third incident, protesters torched a public bus in a Cairo suburb after forcing the driver and passengers out. Police arrested at least 14 protesters at the events, the security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press.

The violence came one day after the anniversary of the forceful dispersal of pro-Mursi protest camps in Cairo, in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed. Clashes at small, scattered demonstrations on Thursday left four people dead, the Health Ministry said.

Mursi supporters have held regular demonstrations since the military overthrew him last summer amid massive protests against his year in power. Their numbers, however, have dwindled in the face of a massive crackdown that has seen hundreds of protesters killed in street clashes and tens of thousands detained.

Since Mursi’s ouster the country has also seen a wave of militant attacks mainly targeting security forces. The government has blamed the violence on Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood – now branded a terrorist group – and its allies. The Brotherhood has denied any involvement, and the most deadly attacks have been claimed by radical Islamist groups.

 
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