Scores killed as Egyptian army launches offensive against Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian security forces and armed men in plain clothes killed number of Muslim Brotherhood protesters on Saturday.

A Brotherhood spokesman said 66 of the party's supporters were shot dead on the fringes of a sit-in at a Cairo mosque demanding the return of former president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed on 3 July.

The spokesman said that another 61 supporters were 'brain dead' on life-support machines.

According to the Guardian, government officials claim that the number of dead was 65, a death toll greater than the Republican Guards massacre on 8 July, which saw 51 killed.

The latest violence was condemned by members of the international community.

The head of European Union foreign policy, Baroness Ashton, said she deeply deplored the latest deaths.

According to the report, the dead and injured were taken to a makeshift field hospital near the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.

The shootings occurred as the interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said that Morsi, who has been held incommunicado at an army base for the last three weeks, was being moved to Torah prison, where Mubarak is also being held, the report added.