As many of you will have seen from the media there were violent clashes between protestors and police in and around Tahrir Square last night. The Square remains closed off this morning (as at 9am) and we understand police are trying to disperse the demonstration now using tear gas. Please avoid the area.
We have received credible reports of 2 recent car-jacking incidents on the Alex desert road. The victims were relieved of their possessions by armed men but were unharmed.
Such incidents are rare occurrences and these would appear to be economic crimes with no particular targeting of expatriates. We also understand that the Egyptian authorities have established police and military patrols on the Alex Desert Road, roads in South Sinai and on the North Coast road between Alex and Marsa Matrouh.
The traffic department have advertised the following emergency number 012 1110000, to be used in case of emergency for all roads in Egypt. We are checking if this is an Arabic only service and will advise you.
We are also hearing increased reports of bag snatching across the city and in other cities such as Luxor. Again expats are not particularly targeted. Our advice is not to resist, as this can result in being dragged to the ground and therefore serious injury, or worse.