Deadly clashes pitting army troops and police against protesters rocked Cairo’s political centre for a third day yesterday, widening divisions over the military’s handling of transition from Hosni Mubarak’s rule.
At least 10 people were killed in the violence that also destroyed a historic library housing priceless national archives. Armed forces detained 164 people including minors, a military source said, as street battles raged outside Parliament and government offices where protesters have been demanding an end to military rule.
The latest clashes erupted on Friday, overshadowing a vote count in a multi-stage parliamentary election, the first since Mr Mubarak was ousted from power after three decades of rule. Demonstrators hurled stones and pieces of metal over a concrete wall erected by troops on a wide avenue leading from Tahrir Square to the seat of government, journalists reported.
By afternoon, troops retreated and riot police faced off with the protesters, who used metal sheets as barricades. Men in civilian clothes standing on the roof of a building threw stones at protesters, who fired fireworks back.
Outrage flared yesterday as furious protesters brandished the front page of a local paper showing military police clubbing a veiled woman after having ripped her clothes to reveal her bra.
In the picture and YouTube footage of the incident, the woman is sprawled on the ground, helmeted troops towering over her. One is seen kicking her, and later she appears unconscious, her stomach bared and her bra showing.
Other pictures circulating on social media networks that have enraged protesters include one of a military policeman looming over a sobbing elderly woman with his truncheon.
More footage showed army troops beating two protesters, a man and woman, before leaving their motionless bodies on the ground.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads the ruling military council, visited some of the wounded in hospital, state television showed.
The clashes were the deadliest in weeks and have sparked a furious debate over the army’s role during the transition.
Some argue that the protesters are sabotaging the elections, seen by some as the first step to democratic rule.
But much remains unclear about how the new parliament will function and how much power it will be given by Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), headed by Mr Mubarak’s former defence minister Tantawi.