As unrest continues to rock the Egyptian capital of Cairo, new video has emerged that appears to show a local photographer capturing the moment of his death at the hands of an army gunman.
Monday was one of the bloodiest days for Egyptian protesters since the start of the mass demonstrations that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak more than two years ago. In the wake of the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi last week, a Health Ministry spokeswoman said more than 50 people -- many of them Morsi supporters -- were killed and 435 were wounded as the Egyptian army opened fire on protesters in the capital.
Fragmented videos of the shootings have been posted to YouTube, several of which appear to show gunmen in military-style uniforms firing on protesters from the tops of surrounding buildings.
One of these amateur videos, attributed to young photojournalist Ahmed Assem El-Senousy, also known as Ahmed Samir Assem, appears to show the moment a sniper trains his weapon on El-Senousy and fires. The video ends abruptly.
El-Senousy, 26, was reportedly present Monday at the pro-Muslim Brotherhood protest, which turned violent around the time of morning prayers, according to The Telegraph. Witnesses confirmed to The Telegraph that they saw snipers stationed overlooking the protesters' camp, but there has been no official confirmation of the circumstances surrounding El-Senousy's reported death.
“At around 6 a.m., a man came into the media center with a camera covered in blood and told us that one of our colleagues had been injured,” Ahmed Abu Zeid, the culture editor of El-Senousy’s newspaper, told The Telegraph. “Around an hour later, I received news that Ahmed had been shot by a sniper in the forehead while filming or taking pictures on top of the buildings around the incident."
Friends and colleagues of El-Senousy called a press conference Monday, during which they reportedly showed photos relating to the journalist's death, according to English-language news web site Ahram Online.
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement decrying the alleged incident. "A sniper silenced Ahmed Assem [E]l-Senousy, but his killing has only amplified today's tragic events," the group's Middle East and North Africa coordinator Sherif Mansour said on Monday. "Egypt's path to peace and freedom depends on authorities respecting the rule of law and basic human rights for all people."
Abeer al-Saady, vice chairman of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that his organization would grant the young man an honorary membership and give his family a pension.
In a eerily prescient Facebook post dated June 23, El-Senousy warned journalists to be careful when working in protest areas. "No picture is worth your life," he wrote, according to a translation by The Huffington Post.
For its part, the Egyptian military has so far defended the actions of its troops on Monday, claiming that the protesters had perpetuated a "terrorist attack" that killed one soldier and wounded others, according to Voice of America. Pro-Morsi supporters have vowed to fight on to free the deposed former leader.
WARNING: Some viewers may find the footage below disturbing.
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