Cairo witnesses fault security forces for bloodshed at Coptic march

Eyewitness testimonies have been emerging that contradict the authorized accounts of the violence at a march of Coptic Christians in Cairo that left 26 dead and more than 500 injured.

Egyptian state television originally blamed the bloodshed on protesters, who it said had attacked security forces. There were also attempts to portray the violence as sectarian in nature.

But more and more people who were caught up in the fighting have been coming forward to point the finger of blame squarely at the security forces, who they say employed vicious tactics to suppress the protest.

Here is the testimony of four people who were involved.

1. Sherief Gaber, 27, recent graduate

2. Mos'ab Elshamy, 21, pharmacy student and freelance photographer

3. Steve Nabeel, 22, computer engineering student

4. Hossam Bahgat, 32, NGO worker for the Egyptian Institute of Personal Rights