Fierce clashes have erupted between Christians protesting against a recent attack on a church and the Egyptian military, leaving at least 19 people dead and more than 150 injured, Health Ministry officials said.

In rioting outside the state television building along the Nile in Cairo, witnesses said some of the protesters may have snatched weapons from the soldiers and turned them on the military. The protesters also pelted the soldiers with rocks and bottles.

The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square and the area around it, drawing in thousands of people. They battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up paving for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes. At one point, a group of youths with at least one riot policeman among them dragged a protester by his legs for a long distance.

The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But they said they came under attack from thugs in plain clothes.

“The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual,” said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross drawn on it. “Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them.”

Wael Roufail, another protester, said: “I saw the vehicle running over the protesters. Then they opened fired at us.”

Mr Khalili said protesters set fire to army vehicles when they saw them hitting the protesters. Television footage of the riots showed some of the Coptic protesters attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured.