Deaths at pro-Morsi rallies outside Cairo

Protesters storm police stations and burn churches outside the capital, as train service suspended and highways closed.

Train service has been suspended across the country, according to the state railway [EPA]

Supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi have clashed with security forces in several cities outside of Cairo, with at least 22 people killed, according to the health ministry. Activists have reported ongoing protests and clashes in Alexandria, Suez, Assiut and numerous other cities on Wednesday. The health ministry reported five people dead in Suez after protesters tried to storm a provincial government office. In Fayoum, southwest of Cairo, at least 17 people were killed in clashes with security forces. Police fired tear gas in the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya in clashes with protesters outside of a mosque. In Aswan, in southern Egypt, hundreds of pro-Morsi demonstrators attacked the local government offices, throwing stones and attempting to break in, according to local media. The interior ministry said that several police cars were burned in Beni Suef, south of Cairo, and that protesters also set fire to the courthouse. Local media reported that the main Coptic Christian church in Sohag, in southern Egypt, was burned, and a church in Minya was also set on fire. There has been a great deal of sectarian rhetoric directed at Copts in recent weeks during pro-Morsi protests, leading to several incidents of churches burned and Christian-owned businesses attacked. Spreading protests in Cairo In the northern city of Alexandria, meanwhile, protesters have reportedly blocked the corniche, the main coastal road. An eyewitness there said it was dangerous to move around the city. Back in the capital, Morsi's supporters have been protesting on Gama'at al-Dowal, a major road in Mohandiseen, a district in western Cairo. Protesters have begun burning tyres outside the Mostafa Mahmoud mosque, according to the interior ministry. Train services have also been disrupted, according to Egypt's railway authority, and security forces have closed the main highways leading into the capital. The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper also reported an attack on a police station in Helwan, a neighbourhood in southern Cairo, by dozens of armed Morsi supporters, and state television reported a similar attack in Giza's Waraq district.

Source: Al Jazeera