Police fired tear gas in central Cairo on Monday when protesters calling for the reinstatement of the ousted Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, scuffled with drivers and passers-by annoyed that they had blocked major roads.
Supporters of Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, threw rocks at police near Ramses Street, one of the capital’s main thoroughfares, and on the Sixth of October Bridge over the Nile in the first outbreak of violence in Egypt in a week.
«It’s the army against the people, these are our soldiers, we have no weapons,» said Alaa el-Din, a 34-year-old computer engineer, clutching a laptop.
«The army is killing our brothers, you are meant to defend me and you are attacking me. The army turned against the Egyptian people.»
While smaller in scale and more localised than previous clashes since Mursi was deposed by the military on July 3, scenes of running street battles will raise further concerns over stability in the Arab world’s most populous country.
Eye witnesses said thousands of pro-Mursi demonstrators were in the area and police had used tear gas several times to try to control the crowd. A large fire was burning on the bridge, although the cause was not immediately clear.
The clashes came as the first senior US official to visit Egypt since Mursi was toppled was snubbed by both Islamists and their opponents.
Large crowds mobilised by Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement gathered at various points in the city, including outside the Rabaa Adawiya mosque where they have held a three-week vigil, and at Cairo University.
The army warned demonstrators on Monday that it would respond with «the utmost severity and firmness and force» if they approached military bases.
At least 92 people were killed in the days after Mursi was toppled, more than half of them shot by troops outside a barracks near the mosque a week ago.
Protests since then had been tense but peaceful until Monday evening’s developments.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald