(Updated) Fresh Egypt violence as 80 killed in Friday's "Day of anger"

Latest: Backers of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi pledged to stage daily demonstrations, as security forces besieged a Cairo mosque full of Islamist protesters after a day of clashes on Friday that left more than 80 dead.

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An Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood supporter walks near fires in Cairo's Ramses square on August 16, 2013 as clashes broke out with police during a demonstration in support of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi. (Khaled Kamel/AFP)

Saturday update:

At least 80 dead in "Friday of anger"

CAIRO, AFP — Backers of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi pledged to stage daily demonstrations, as security forces besieged a Cairo mosque full of Islamist protesters after a day of clashes on Friday that left more than 80 dead.

The fresh call for protest marches raised fears of more violence in Egypt, with the country already reeling from the deaths of at least 578 people on Wednesday when police cleared camps set up by loyalists of the deposed Islamist leader.

The siege of the Al-Fath mosque in the Ramsis area came at the end of what Islamists billed a "Friday of anger" marked by clashes between security forces and Morsi supporters, who have vowed to fight for his reinstatement after the military ousted him on July 3.

Security officials quoted by the official MENA news agency said "armed elements" were "shooting security forces and police from inside the mosque."

Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said in a statement there were "thousands of people trapped" in the mosque.

A demonstrator inside the mosque said soldiers offered to evacuate the women but insisted on questioning the men, which the protesters refused.

The protester inside the mosque who spoke to AFP said there were almost 1,000 people holed up in the house of worship.

Friday's unrest started as Morsi supporters emerged from mosques in the capital to protest and violence erupted almost immediately, with gunshots ringing out in Cairo and security forces firing tear gas.

Friday's story

An Egyptian security forces' armoured vehicle drives amidst remains of a protest camp by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

Fresh Egypt violence after crackdown kills more than 550

By Sara Hussein (AFP)

CAIRO — Fresh violence targeted the security forces in a tense Egypt Thursday, as Washington cancelled a joint military exercise in response to a crackdown on protesters that killed nearly 600 people.

Security sources said at least seven soldiers and a policeman were killed in attacks in the Sinai peninsula, and another policeman was killed in the central city of Assuit.

A supporter of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi holds his children tight as Egyptian security forces move in to disperse by force pro-Islamist protesters in a huge camp in Cairo's Al-Nahda square on August 14. (Engy Imad/AFP)

With the country under a state of emergency and many provinces hit by night-time curfews, the interior ministry ordered police to take tough measures after a series of attacks on government buildings.

The death toll from nationwide clashes following Wednesday's operation to clear two protest camps in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi rose to 578, making it the country's bloodiest day in decades.

International criticism of the bloodshed poured in, with diplomats saying the UN Security Council would hold an emergency meeting on Egypt at 2130 GMT on Thursday at the request of Australia, Britain and France.

Egyptian supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi confront riot police at Cairo's Mustafa Mahmoud Square after security forces dispersed Morsi supporters on August 14, 2013. AFP

The carnage prompted fierce international condemnation, led by the United States, with President Barack Obama announcing a joint US-Egyptian military exercise would be cancelled.

"While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back," he said.

But despite cancelling the Bright Star exercise, which has been scheduled every two years since 1981, he stopped short of suspending Washington's annual $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt.

UN rights chief Navi Pillay called for "an independent, impartial, effective and credible investigation of the conduct of the security forces."

"The number of people killed or injured, even according to the government's figures, point to an excessive, even extreme use of force against demonstrators," she said.

A man grieves as he looks at one of many bodies laid out in a makeshift morgue after Egyptian security forces stormed two huge protest camps at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and Al-Nahda squares where supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi were camped. (Mossab El-Shamy/AFP)

Morsi supporters had called for Cairo marches but that call was not heeded, while small protests were staged in coastal Alexandria and southern Beni Sueif.

Meanwhile, attacks against churches and Christian properties that began on Wednesday continued for a second day, with activists saying at least 25 churches had been targeted.

As relatives sought to identify their dead, Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad insisted protesters would "remain strong, defiant and resolved."

"We will push forward until we bring down this military coup," he tweeted.

In Cairo, at the Al-Iman mosque, dozens of corpses of protesters clad in white shrouds were lined up before grieving relatives.

At the two protest sites where Morsi loyalists had camped since his July 3 ouster, trucks cleared charred debris.

Meanwhile, Egypt's interior ministry announced new security measures on Thursday, ordering police to use live fire if government buildings came under attacks.

From the Bangkok Post:

The Thai embassy in Cairo has issued a warning to Thai citizens living in Egypt to stay indoors and avoid travelling to many locations.

Jakkrit Srivali, deputy spokesman at the Foreign Ministry, yesterday said the embassy in Cairo had notified Thai students and citizens through the Thai Students Association in Cairo and leaders of Thai communities in Egypt to tell Thais to stay indoors and refrain from travelling to dangerous locations for their own safety.