Hundreds of protesters demanding that Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, be put on trial for alleged corruption, have retaken Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, hours after security forces attempted to disperse them.
By 7am (local time) on Saturday morning, army and central security troops appeared to have withdrawn, leaving the square to protesters who set vehicles on fire and began setting up barricades made of furniture and left-behind barbed wire.
Hundreds of army and security forces troops had stormed the square earlier, in an attempt to disperse the thousands of protesters.
In scenes reminiscent of the violent 18-day uprising that ousted longtime President Mubarak in February, protesters and riot police threw rocks at each other, and security forces responded by firing tear gas, witnesses said.
Groups of protesters rallying around the southeast corner of the square threw bottles and possibly petrol firebombs at riot police, Michelle May, a freelance journalist, told Al Jazeera.
One of the main roads running east from Tahrir Square towards Talaat Harb Square was virtually empty, and gunfire seemed to have subsided, a witness said.
Army officers joined protest
Hundreds of soldiers and security troops backed by armoured vehicles stormed into the square at around 3am on Saturday, firing shots into the air, brandishing tasers and batons, and beating people, witnesses said.
Hundreds of protesters demanding that Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, be put on trial for alleged corruption, have retaken Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, hours after security forces attempted to disperse them.
By 7am (local time) on Saturday morning, army and central security troops appeared to have withdrawn, leaving the square to protesters who set vehicles on fire and began setting up barricades made of furniture and left-behind barbed wire.
Hundreds of army and security forces troops had stormed the square earlier, in an attempt to disperse the thousands of protesters.
In scenes reminiscent of the violent 18-day uprising that ousted longtime President Mubarak in February, protesters and riot police threw rocks at each other, and security forces responded by firing tear gas, witnesses said.
Groups of protesters rallying around the southeast corner of the square threw bottles and possibly petrol firebombs at riot police, Michelle May, a freelance journalist, told Al Jazeera.
One of the main roads running east from Tahrir Square towards Talaat Harb Square was virtually empty, and gunfire seemed to have subsided, a witness said.
Army officers joined protest
Hundreds of soldiers and security troops backed by armoured vehicles stormed into the square at around 3am on Saturday, firing shots into the air, brandishing tasers and batons, and beating people, witnesses said.
On the road leading east into the central business district around Talaat Harb Square, protesters tore down the roof of a bus stop and dragged it down the road to protect themselves from gunfire and rocks, said Drew Storey, a neighbourhood resident.
Protesters and army soldiers threw rocks at each other, and at least four injured protesters had to be carried away, he said. Soldiers fired their guns into metal shopfronts, sending sparks flying and bullets ricocheting, apparently to scare away the protesters, Storey said.
At one point, he said, security forces clad in riot gear chanted, cheered and shook each others’ hands after driving the protesters away.
Other central security and army forces had been stationed to the north of Tahrir Square next to the Egyptian Museum, which military police have turned into a makeshift detention centre.
Arbitrary arrest allegations
In recent weeks, activists have accused the army of making arbitrary arrests, abusing and torturing prisoners, and subjecting detainees to rapid military justice – all complaints that had fuelled mass anger against Mubarak’s government.
The increasingly icy relationship between the ruling military council and the youth-driven protest movement was one reason many had returned to the square on Friday. But as the protest thinned and only a few people remained, demonstrators vowed to protect the army officers who had joined them, using loudspeakers to urge others to defend the soldiers with their lives, Seif said.
Though some of the protesting army officers were reportedly arrested, seven or eight escaped the square, Bassiouny said.
Seif said she saw a group of people leading some of the protesting officers out of the square.
She said she hoped the crackdown would bring more people out into the street to protest.
“I hope so, I mean it happened before, but I think it’s getting better, because people are now more aware that the army is not really that loyal to the revolution,” she said.