Deaths at Egypt Brotherhood protests

At least 11 people have been killed as Muslim Brotherhood supporters clashed with police in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, the country's Health Ministry has said. 

The Muslim Brotherhood put the death toll at 17 and dozens of people, including police, have been wounded.

The deaths were reported in the capital Cairo and the cities of Alexandria, Fayoum and Ismailia.

Authorities have recently intensified a crackdown on the movement, which has been declared a terrorist group.

In Friday's violence, police fought with demonstrators, some throwing stones and fireworks and setting police vehicles on fire, in several districts in the capital.

Authorities said 122 protesters had been arrested.

The health ministry said 52 people had been wounded in the clashes, with several people reported injured by birdshot in Alexandria.

The latest clashes come a day after two people were killed in violence at an Islamist demonstration in the northern coastal city.

Supporters of the Brotherhood's ousted President Mohammed Morsi have held frequent protests since he was removed by the military in July.

Protesters set fire to a police vehicle in Cairo using petrol bombs as police fought street battles with rock-throwing protesters in the capital.

"We are not afraid, we love Egypt and what we are doing is for Egypt," said Mohamed Dahi, a 39-year-old protester, as he distributed leaflets calling for a boycott of the referendum.

Demonstrators chanted "Down with military rule" and slogans against army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who removed Morsi from the presidency in July.

Cairo's main squares were sealed off by security forces using barbed wire and military vehicles. They included Tahrir Square, as well as Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares, which were the sites of a bloody crackdown on Morsi's supporters in August.

The clashes took place less than two weeks before a vote on a new constitution, a milestone in the road map which the army-backed authorities say will pave the way for a return to a democratic rule by next summer.

Protesters opposed to the army's overthrow of Morsi have been holding daily demonstrations in Cairo and in other cities ever since the military government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist" group last month, a move that upped the penalties for dissent.