Cairo (CNN) -- Egypt, including its capital Cairo, teetered on the edge

early Thursday as clashes persisted following the bloodiest day since

the revolution two years ago that was envisioned to bring peace and
democracy to Egypt -- but has not.
The violence Wednesday pitted Egypt's military and current
government against backers of deposed President Mohamed Morsy,
though others also were caught in the fray.
At least 278 people were killed, including 235 civilians, state TV
reported, citing an Egyptian emergency official. Interim Interior
Minister Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim said that an additional 43 police
officers died.
"It's an open war," said a protester who escaped one of two Cairo
camps that were raided.
The intensity and violence lingered into Thursday morning, when
state TV reported Morsy backers were attacking police stations,
hospitals and government buildings despite a government-mandated
curfew. More Egyptian troops were being deployed at entrances to
Cairo and Giza, with the unrest prompting the closure Thursday of
banks and the nation's stock market.
The 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, who'd
kept a firm grip on power for 30 years, was followed by Egypt's first
democratic elections. Morsy -- a leader of the Islamist group the
Muslim Brotherhood -- won the presidency in that 2012 vote, but was
forced out by the military last month.
Morsy hasn't been seen since he was taken into custody. Yet his
supporters have very public in voicing their opinions, massing on the
streets of Cairo and elsewhere to slam military leaders and demand
Morsy's return to the presidency.
Egypt's new government refused to back down, criticizing elements of
the protest movement and specifically ordering them to leave two
spots where they'd been gathering in Cairo for six weeks, or else
they'd force them out.
On Wednesday, they did.