Residents inspected the damage in the mosque of Raba'a al Adiwiya in Cairo on Thursday, a day after violence and chaos convulsed Egypt. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

KERDASA, Egypt—The police station in this small town near Cairo was still smoldering Thursday after a mob shot dead its 11 officers and set the building alight, a reasonable reaction, some onlookers said, to the government's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

"This is what happened when the people of Kerdasa heard that their family members were killed," said Ashraf Fawzi, a 40-year-old pastry maker.

Since Wednesday, the Brotherhood's supporters have attacked at least 12 government buildings and set three churches ablaze across Egypt, the government says. The violence reinforces fears that the Islamic movement's leadership is quickly losing control of its followers, whom it has implored to protest peacefully.

Images quickly spread of protesters heaving an armored police vehicle off a Cairo bridge and then dragging the limp body of a policeman who was inside through the streets. Egyptian TV stations and newspapers showed protesters using hammers and poles to destroy a cross, for them a symbol of alleged Christian military collaboration.

Both sides predicted more clashes following Friday prayers after the military killed hundreds while ousting thousands of supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday from two makeshift camps in Cairo and then declared a state of emergency, as tit-for-tat violence makes any political compromise more distant than ever.

The military's move was reminiscent of the emergency law former President Hosni Mubarak enforced starting in 1981 until he was overthrown in 2011 and which helped the autocrat to crush political dissent at home.

"When you go home and you watch TV and they are calling you a terrorist and your leadership is locked up, you may join your neighbors and do something dangerous," said Gehad al Haddad, a spokesman for the Brotherhood's political arm.

Senior European diplomats will meet Monday to begin considering what action to take in response to the bloody crackdown on protesters by Egypt's interim authorities and the imposition of a state of emergency. Jeff Grocott joins The News Hub. Photo: AP.


Photos: Crackdown in Egypt

Relatives and colleagues of policemen who were killed during Wednesday's clashes carried coffins covered with flags during a funeral in Cairo Thursday. Associated Press

Timeline: Egypt in Transition

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Mr. Haddad said government security forces may be intentionally provoking a response in order to justify repressing the Islamist movement, which has long renounced the political assassinations and bombings it had employed after a government crackdown in the 1960s sent it underground. "This is very dangerous for the stability of country," he said.

Ahmed Ali, the defense ministry spokesman, said the military was needed to quell violent protests. "When dealing with terrorism, the consideration of civil and human rights are not applicable," Mr. Ali said. "There is insurgency already and it's increasing. They are killing people in the streets."

Many residents of Kerdasa—a town known for its handmade textiles—justified their reaction by asserting that government oppression had shown democracy was no longer a viable option to protect their interests.

Some Kerdasa residents lost family members in the crackdown on Cairo's Raba'a al Adiwiya and Nahda squares, Mr. Fawzi said. "If one person dies in Egypt it enrages a thousand of us and we will all go to the streets," the pastry maker said outside the police station's charred remains.

On Thursday afternoon, a crowd had gathered to inspect the charred two-story station, as smoke rose from the smoldering remains. Near the station, children played in the station and on a burned, armored-personnel carrier, the heavy frame turned on its side.

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President Barack Obama addressed the deteriorating situation in Egypt, condemning the military crackdown and saying the U.S. will cancel its joint military exercise because of the rising violence. Adam Entous joins Lunch break with more. Photo: Getty Images.

The violence in Kerdasa started a few hours after police stormed the antigovernment sit-ins in Cairo at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. The Brotherhood's sophisticated press office quickly spread news of the violence on social-media networks, publishing images of bodies piled up in morgues and police snipers on rooftops, firing at protesters.

Kerdasa's distressed residents—many with family members in the sit-ins—gathered that afternoon around the police station to protest when witnesses said three civilians opened fire, setting off a violent domino effect. A mob soon stormed the building, shot the 11 policemen in their heads and bodies, looted the building and set it ablaze.

The mob then moved on to Kerdasa's only church, which was newly renovated and reopened last week, members of the town's Christian community say, after worshipers had scrimped their meager savings together. A crowd tore down the gates, kicked out worshipers and set the structure on fire.

"We will show you rage and we will make you see terrorism," the vandals spray-painted on one of the church's charred walls, which had been partly brought down with sledgehammers.

The Christian residents of Kerdasa say simmering tensions with their Muslim neighbors have only worsened since the military last month overthrew Mr. Morsi and his Brotherhood-led government.

Umm Ibrahim, a Christian who owns a stationery shop in Kerdasa, said her Muslim neighbors used to come to her community's defense when local troublemakers attacked them. But that camaraderie ended after Mr. Morsi's ouster and relations worsened as the police continued to crack down on Brotherhood protesters.

"If they hadn't attacked the Brotherhood, they wouldn't have torched our church," said Umm Ibrahim, as her daughter, husband and a Muslim neighbor listened on.

Observers warn that the military coup against Mr. Morsi has left many of his Brotherhood supporters feeling disenfranchised, frustrated with the country's democratic experiment and turning to violent tactics instead.

"The ideas of al Qaeda and Jihad are being reborn and being fed by the violence of this government," said Nezar Ghorab, a leader from the Islamist movement al Gamaa al Islamiya, in an interview. "The attempt to seize the civil and political rights of Islamists will provide support to the ideas of al Qaeda and Jihadist thought."

Umm Ibrahim, too, voiced her concerns of instability under Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, the leader of Egypt's armed forces. "There are groups that feel that if there's no democracy, they'll embrace violence and that until Sisi leaves, they'll burn the country down," she said.

Her Muslim neighbor looked concerned. "I will protect you!" he exclaimed. "Tell me who these people are and I will protect you."

Umm Ibrahim looked at him skeptically.

"You can't even protect yourself. The police couldn't even protect themselves yesterday. No one will be able to protect us."

— Leila Elmergawi contributed to this article.

Write to Maria Abi-Habib at