Egypt's military clashes with protesters, 9 killed
Source: Agencies |
December 18, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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HUNDREDS of Egyptian soldiers swept into Cairo's Tahrir Square yesterday, chasing protesters and beating them to the ground with sticks and tossing journalists' TV cameras off balconies in the second day of a violent crackdown on anti-military protesters that has left nine dead and hundreds injured.
The violent, chaotic scenes have brought to the fore the simmering tensions between the ruling military council that took power after Hosni Mubarak's ouster and activists demanding the generals transfer power immediately to civilians. The clashes also serve as a near repeat of the deadly street fighting between youth protesters and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.
Early yesterday, hundreds of protesters hurled stones at security forces who sealed off the streets around parliament with barbed wire and large concrete blocks. Soldiers on rooftops pelted the crowds below with stones, prompting many of the protesters to pick up helmets, satellite dishes or sheets of metal to try to shield themselves.
Stones, dirt and shattered glass littered the streets downtown, while flames leapt out of the windows of a two-story building set ablaze near parliament, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky.
Witnesses said soldiers wielding batons and dressed in riot gear then chased protesters through the streets and into Tahrir Square, which served as the epicenter of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in February.
Soldiers set fire to tents inside the square, and swept through buildings where television crews were filming from and confiscated their equipment and briefly detained journalists.
Egypt's state-run news agency MENA said at least nine people have been killed and around 300 people injured in the two days of clashes.
Egypt's prime minister defended the security forces' response. While Kamal al-Ganzouri acknowledged that people have died from gunshot wounds, he denied the military and the police had opened fire. Instead, he said "a group came from the back and fired at protesters" and that his government is for "the salvation of the revolution."
Many Egyptians have grown increasingly frustrated with its handling of the country's transition period, and activists accuse the ruling generals of trying to hang on to power.
The military council polished its reputation in the past few weeks with two peaceful rounds of voting in parliamentary elections that are widely viewed as the fairest in the country's modern history.
The violent, chaotic scenes have brought to the fore the simmering tensions between the ruling military council that took power after Hosni Mubarak's ouster and activists demanding the generals transfer power immediately to civilians. The clashes also serve as a near repeat of the deadly street fighting between youth protesters and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.
Early yesterday, hundreds of protesters hurled stones at security forces who sealed off the streets around parliament with barbed wire and large concrete blocks. Soldiers on rooftops pelted the crowds below with stones, prompting many of the protesters to pick up helmets, satellite dishes or sheets of metal to try to shield themselves.
Stones, dirt and shattered glass littered the streets downtown, while flames leapt out of the windows of a two-story building set ablaze near parliament, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky.
Witnesses said soldiers wielding batons and dressed in riot gear then chased protesters through the streets and into Tahrir Square, which served as the epicenter of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in February.
Soldiers set fire to tents inside the square, and swept through buildings where television crews were filming from and confiscated their equipment and briefly detained journalists.
Egypt's state-run news agency MENA said at least nine people have been killed and around 300 people injured in the two days of clashes.
Egypt's prime minister defended the security forces' response. While Kamal al-Ganzouri acknowledged that people have died from gunshot wounds, he denied the military and the police had opened fire. Instead, he said "a group came from the back and fired at protesters" and that his government is for "the salvation of the revolution."
Many Egyptians have grown increasingly frustrated with its handling of the country's transition period, and activists accuse the ruling generals of trying to hang on to power.
The military council polished its reputation in the past few weeks with two peaceful rounds of voting in parliamentary elections that are widely viewed as the fairest in the country's modern history.
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