Police will 'shoot to kill' on Rabaa anniversary

Police will use live ammunition on protesters who commemorate the second anniversary of the Rabaa massacre this Friday, Egypt's Ministry of Interior has said.

Officers will "shoot to kill", Abu Bakr Abd al-Karim, ministry spokesperson told local press. The police and military are also preparing to tighten security in public squares and main roads.

"Police are prepared to take on any attempts to break the law or disturb the peace and those who try will be dealt with firmly," Abd al-Karim told Shorouk News.

Police will shoot to kill to keep the peace and protect civilians - Abu Bakr Abd al-Karim, interior ministry

"Police will shoot to kill to keep the peace and protect civilians."

A source told al-Araby al-Jadeed's Arabic service that police had been arresting young people around Egypt ahead of the anniversary in an attempt to "cut out demonstrations from the source".

The Muslim Brotherhood has called for Egyptians to join a "roaring revolutionary wave" of peaceful protests. The group, which is banned in Egypt, says protests will continue until the end of August.

Security forces forcibly dispersed pro-Brotherhood sit-ins at Cairo's Rabaa and al-Nahda Squares on August 14, 2013.

At least 817 demonstrators died in Rabaa Square alone.

Human Rights Watch has called the massacre "one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history".

Rabaa Square was recently renamed Hisham Barakat Square in honour of the state prosecutor who was assassinated in a June 29 car bombing in Cairo.

Barakat had reportedly given the green light for the security forces to disperse the Rabaa protesters.