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Virginie Nguyen Hoang/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

People fled a public bus in Cairo on Friday after it was caught up in clashes between supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi and the police. At least 13 people were killed nationwide.

CAIRO — At least 13 people were killed as violence broke out during Muslim Brotherhood marches in several Egyptian cities on Friday, health officials said, in the deadliest day of clashes in months.

The victims included protesters — one an 18-year-old college sophomore — and, apparently, bystanders. Brotherhood supporters said riot police officers had fired on their marches without provocation in some places, while the authorities said they had seized weapons from demonstrators. Dozens of people sustained gunshot and other injuries in violence that was the latest blow to the military-backed government, which is trying to impose stability just 10 days before Egyptians are set to vote on a draft constitution.

Six months after the army's ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood leader, the grinding civil conflict between Mr. Morsi's supporters and the government appears to be reaching another peak.

The authorities are desperate to hold the constitutional referendum, seeing it as a chance to quiet unrest by marginalizing the Brotherhood with a public show of support for the government-sponsored charter.

A strong showing, the official thinking goes, would bolster the government's legitimacy, and restore momentum to a transitional plan that is supposed to lead to parliamentary and presidential elections. Before the vote, the authorities have stepped up a crackdown on opponents, arresting hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and non-Islamist activists.

The Brotherhood has responded to the government's efforts to eradicate the movement — including, last month, officially designating it a terrorist group — by trying to project endurance and vowing to continue the protests. Brotherhood supporters have intensified their demonstrations on campuses, including Al-Azhar University in Cairo. On the past two Fridays, the traditional day of protest, Brotherhood leaders have mustered sizable crowds around the country.

Fighting was reported on Friday in several cities, including Cairo, Alexandria and Ismailia. In Fayoum, a senior Brotherhood leader said, the authorities fired live ammunition at marches that had set off from three mosques after prayers, killing the student, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, and two men ages 31 and 52.

In Cairo, one man was shot dead after yelling insults at Brotherhood protesters, a security official told the Reuters news agency. In Alexandria, an Associated Press cameraman reported seeing dozens of protesters armed with homemade pistols clashing with security forces.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that 17 of its officers had been injured with birdshot, and that 235 Brotherhood members had been arrested.