The conflict between the state of Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood has reached a deadly point. After weeks of anticipation, on Wednesday morning [Aug. 14] police moved in to clear two Brotherhood encampments in Giza and east of Cairo. Police moved alongside bulldozers that removed barricades and sand fortifications erected by the pro-Morsi supporters. The operation was mostly covered live by Egyptian state TV and several other private stations. Al-Nahda, the much smaller sit-in, was also the easier site to disperse. The Rabia al-Adawiya sit-in was much tougher, but it was mostly cleared by sunset.  The death toll from the Rabia al-Adawiya sit-in in Nasr City reached 202, with 87 reported deaths from the al-Nahda site, according to a Health Ministry spokesman. The total death toll nationwide stood at 525, including 43 security troops, according to the latest Health Ministry figures. 

In the morning, security released information that it has intercepted communications from Muslim Brotherhood leaders who commanded their members to wage a wave of attacks on police stations and government facilities. During the day, these threats were realized with several police stations stormed, and government buildings and military installations attacked. More than 40 churches and several Christian schools were also attacked and some set on fire in six governorates. Muslim Brotherhood members further attempted to block several key roads in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria among other places around Egypt.

In Egypt, if you ask a question, you are often answered with another question. So, to the question, “Why was it so necessary to clear these sit-ins fully knowing that the blood toll was to be so high?” the answer would be, “If it's not too important, why did the Muslim Brothers’ react by setting the whole country on fire?”

For six weeks, yard by yard, the Rabia al-Adawiya encampment expanded its borders, creeping to claim kilometer after kilometer of neighboring streets, including the Autostrade road, which connects Nasr City and the rest of Cairo to the city’s airport. Until one day, Rabia al-Adawiya was no longer a sit-in, but a sprawling town, even a city-state, with fortifications, internal police force, complete with torture camps and border control officials. Rabia al-Adawiya came to manifest the Muslim Brotherhood’s “Parallel State.”