Update: Indian news agency reported that:

Witnesses say that Egyptian security forces have stormed a Cairo mosque after firing tear gas at hundreds of Islamists supporters of the country’s ousted president barricaded inside.

Local journalist Shaimaa Awad told on Saturday that security forces rounded up protesters inside al-Fath mosque, located in Cairo’s central Ramses Square.

The sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.

Egypt’s official news agency MENA reported that gunmen opened fire on security forces from the mosque’s minaret. Local television stations broadcast live footage of soldiers firing assault rifles at the minaret.

The mosque served as a field hospital and morgue following clashes Friday in the area. The protesters barricaded themselves inside overnight out of fears of being beaten by vigilante mobs or being arrested by authorities.

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Egyptian forces and “popular committees” sieged a Mosque where hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside.

The Wall Street Journal reported an hour ago that:

Egyptian security forces fired on a mosque with large explosions rocking the structure where antigovernment protestors were holed up Saturday, capping a 24-hour standoff between the two sides, with clashes leaving at least 80 dead across the country.

Antigovernment protestors erected barricades inside the al Fatah Mosque in Cairo’s Ramses Square after deadly clashes Friday had turned the mosque into a makeshift morgue and medical center that afternoon and a refuge for some 400 protestors later that evening.

Security forces in armored personnel carriers surrounded the mosque by Saturday morning, and appeared to fire the opening shots toward the mosque at about 1:30 p.m. using what appeared to be automatic weapons fired from their vehicles. It was not apparent to a reporter on the ground that protestors in the mosque were firing back, contrary to government arguments that supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were armed and committing terrorist acts that needed to be squashed by state security forces.

“No one inside has any guns, so why are they shooting them?” said Ahmed Atef, 32 years old, an onlooker.

As Brotherhood and other antigovernment protestors fled the mosque, which was under heavy fire and was rocked by explosions, they were lynched by civilian groups, known as popular committees.

Earlier Saturday, security forces had tried to negotiate with the protestors and convince them to leave the al Fatah Mosque and estimated that some 70 antigovernment demonstrators remained inside when the fresh clashes began. Footage from inside the mosque showed protestors huddling on the green carpeted floor next to the wounded, and furniture barricading the doors.

Crowds of civilian neighborhood-watch groups, known as popular committees, created a cordon around the mosque, trying to storm the protestors holed up inside. Police prevented the hundreds of civilians—some armed with wooden planks—from entering the mosque, but the situation indicated how quickly national security forces had lost grip of the situation. Each time a protester agreed to leave the mosque, the popular committees started to beat them, with the police unable to hold them back.

The popular committees first came out in full force Friday night, during the clashes in Ramses Square between antigovernment protestors and security forces.

Egyptian civilians created new security checkpoints on major roads, patrolling their neighborhoods against what they said was the threat of Muslim Brotherhood protesters.

“We’re looking for terrorists,” said one of these civilians, as he popped open car trunks in downtown Cairo as Egypt’s military curfew approached. [Read more at The Wall Street Journal].

The neighborhood watch groups were formed following the call by the Tamrod(Rebel) campaign that collected more than 20 million signatures and organized the June 30 demonstrations demanding the ouster of President Morsi.

Egypt daily news reported on Friday that Tamrod campaign issued a statement saying:

“We call on all Egyptians to protect the churches and support their Christian brothers. Those who are trying to ignite strife should know that minorities do not exist in Egypt; we are all Egyptian citizens, Muslims and Christians.”……”Just as you met our calls to take to the streets on 30 June, today we ask you to meet our calls and form neighbourhood watches tomorrow. Our country is facing huge threats.”

The statement was seconded by a major coalition of political parties, according to the news.

The National Salvation Front (NSF) welcomed the campaign’s calls, reported state-run Al-Ahram. In a statement released on Thursday, the NSF said they will meet Tamarod’s calls to announce their utter rejection of the “obvious terrorist operations” committed by Muslim Brotherhood affiliates since the dispersal of the Rabaa and Al-Nahda “illegitimate” encampments.

“We will be on the streets tomorrow with millions of Egyptians, forming neihbourhood watches in all cities and villages to protect ourselves, our nation, our public and private properties, our mosques and our churches,” the statement read. [Read more at Egypt daily news]

In a related development, the Associated Press reported today that:

The spokesman of the Egyptian Cabinet says authorities are considering disbanding the Muslim Brotherhood group.

Spokesman Sherif Shawki said Saturday that Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi assigned Ministry of Social Solidarity to study the legal possibilities of dissolving the group. He didn’t elaborate.

The Muslim Brotherhood group, founded in 1928, came to power a year ago when its leader Mohammed Morsi was elected in the country’s first free presidential elections. The election came after the overthrow of longtime autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi was overthrown in a popularly backed military coup July 3.

The Brotherhood rocketed to power after decades of being a banned group in Egypt. While sometimes tolerated, its leaders often faced long bouts of imprisonment.

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