'Two shot dead' in Egypt protests
Two protesters have been killed by gunfire in clashes between Egyptian soldiers and anti-military protesters today, according to witnesses.
Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, a youth activist, says she saw the bodies of the two protesters and accompanied them to the morgue at a Cairo hospital.
She says both had gunshot wounds, and she identified one of them as a 22-year old man. She said the blood "is still dripping from his head".
The clashes have been raging since late Thursday after military police stormed a sit-in camp that the protesters have held outside the Cabinet building for the past three weeks, demanding the ruling generals surrender power.
The Health Ministry says at least 99 people have been injured, including broken bones and gunshot wounds.
Soldiers stormed an anti-military protest camp outside Egypt's Cabinet building, beating women with sticks and hurling chunks of concrete and glass on to protesters from the roof of the parliament in a resurgence of turmoil only a day after millions voted in parliamentary elections.
At least two protesters were shot dead in the clashes, an activist who saw their bodies said. The heavy-handed assault was an attempt to clear out protesters who have been camped out in front of the building for three weeks demanding the ruling military leaves power.
But the mayhem - which came despite promises from the army-appointed prime minister that no-one would try to clear the protesters by force - threatened to spark a new round of violence after deadly clashes between youth revolutionaries and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.
Several women protesters cowered on the pavement as military police beat them with truncheons and long sticks. Another woman was seen bring dragged away by her hair by soldiers.
Plain-clothes and uniformed security officers were seen throwing slabs of concrete and stones on protesters from the top of the parliament building, according to state TV footage and videos and photos posted by protesters on social networking sites.
Protesters threw fire bombs and rocks at the security officers, lighting a part of parliament on fire and chanting "Down with the military".
"It's pretty ironic that the military is throwing rocks at protesters from the parliament building, where a sign is hanging that says democracy is the power of the people," protester Mostafa Sheshtawy said.
Hours after sunset, the crowds of protesters had grown to hundreds and clashes continued, with youths hiding behind a makeshift barrier of metal sheets and an overturned car, throwing volleys of stones at military police lined up in the broad avenue in front of the parliament and Cabinet headquarters.
There were reports of live gunfire from the rooftops. One protester, Islam Mohammed, said a fellow protester pushed him aside and was hit by a bullet in the stomach.
"He took a bullet instead of me and fell to the ground. I have his blood on my shirt and hands," Mr Mohammed said. The condition of the wounded man was not known.
A Health Ministry official confirmed one death, a man in his 20s who was shot in the head with live ammunition. The ministry, cited by the state news agency, said at least 99 people were injured, including broken bones and gunshot wounds.
The assault was likely to reignite the tensions between revolutionaries and the military, which took power after the February 11 resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The youth activists who led the protests that ousted Mubarak accuse the military of acting in the same authoritarian way as the former president.
The clashes took place as election officials were counting ballots from the second round of Egypt's parliament elections, considered to be the freest and fairest vote in the country's modern history.
A third of Egypt's provinces voted on Wednesday and Thursday. Election results from the first round of voting placed Islamist parties ahead of more liberal parties born out of the anti-Mubarak uprising.
The military touted the vote as a boost to its status, and state media depicted it as the country's guardian, running images of troops protecting polling centres and soldiers carrying the elderly to the polls.
Despite wide dissatisfaction with the way the military has handled the nation's transition, the armed forces retain support among many Egyptians who see it as the only entity able to run the country until presidential elections scheduled for next year.
The military's assault is also a potential embarrassment to prime minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, who vowed last month that he would not use force to break up the sit-in.
The military said Mr al-Ganzouri would have greater power than the preceding government, which stepped down amid the November protests amid criticism that it was simply a facade for the ruling generals.
