Clashes kill 5 in Egypt capital

Five men died in Cairo in separate incidents involving a bomb blast and protester clashes with security forces yesterday, the first anniversary of the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, security sources said.
Thousands of Egyptians opposed to the army's ouster of Morsi last year joined rare protests in cities and towns around the country, witnesses said. Previous protests had much lower turnout after a new law required official approval.
Security was tight in Cairo as armoured personnel carriers blocked off the city's central Tahrir Square to head off any possible protests there.
Since Morsi's ouster, his Muslim Brotherhood group was labelled a terrorist organisation and thousands of Islamists have been jailed on accusations of terrorism and violence while militant Islamists have stepped up attacks on security forces.
Three of Thursday's victims died in clashes that broke out in Cairo between protesters and security forces, security sources said. Unrest was reported both from the upscale district of Mohandiseen and poor areas such as Haram and Materiya
Earlier in the day, two men were killed in a blast in a flat in Kerdasa. Another explosive device detonated in a car in Abbassiya and three home-made bombs went off near police cars in Imbaba without causing injuries, the sources added.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the blasts. Cairo has been hit by a spate of small explosions in recent days and two police officers were killed on Monday trying to defuse bombs planted near the presidential palace.