埃及警察强攻抗议者营地,伤亡严重

Casualties are rising in Egypt after security forces moved in with armored vehicles, bulldozers and tear gas to clear two protest camps in Cairo set up by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Amid the bloodshed, Egypt's interim presidency Wednesday announced a one-month state of emergency had begun and ordered the armed forces to help the Interior Ministry enforce security.  In addition, a nighttime curfew was declared in Cairo and a number of other provinces.

There are widely divergent estimates of the death toll from the clashes.

The United Nations said it appears hundreds were killed or wounded in the clashes between security forces and demonstrators demanding Mr. Morsi's reinstatement. The Muslim Brotherhood called the security operation a "massacre" and put the death toll at 500, while Egypt's Health Ministry said at least 95 people were killed and 874 wounded.

Witnesses and foreign journalists reported that security forces used live fire from automatic rifles, while the army released photos of pro-Morsi supporters using weapons against riot police. The Interior Ministry said its forces used only tear gas and that they came under fire from the camps.

Scores of people were arrested, including Brotherhood leaders.

Clashes also broke out elsewhere in the capital and other provinces across the country as Islamist anger over the crackdown spread, with police stations, government buildings and Coptic Christian churches attacked or set ablaze.