Seven people were killed in clashes in Cairo between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, medical sources said.
The violence in Cairo's Giza neighbourhood also injured dozens, "some of whom are in critical condition from bullet wounds,'' medical sources told AFP.
Opponents of Egypt's Mohamed Morsy poured onto the streets of Cairo to press their demand that he step down after the Islamist president snubbed an ultimatum from the army to agree to the "people's demands'' or face an imposed solution.
Morsy and army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have been locked in talks all day to "discuss the current crisis,'' a military source said.
Most businesses remained closed and very few cars were on the streets, as tensions soared ahead of the Wednesday deadline set by the army, which the president's supporters have condemned as a coup threat.
Clashes also erupted in the Cairo neighbourhood Helwan and the northern province of Beheira, security officials said.
A senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood called on its supporters to be ready to sacrifice their lives to prevent an army takeover, recalling that hundreds had died during the 2011 revolution that ousted veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak.
