(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Thirteen persons were killed and more than 400 injured in clashes between police and protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday, casting a dark shadow over Egypt’s first polls since Hosni Mubarak’s downfall.
Egyptian police and military forces used tear gas to clear central Cairo’s Tahrir Square of thousands of protesters, but withdrew after facing heavy resistance from the demonstrators.
The situation remained fluid with ongoing clashes around Tahrir the symbolic heart of protests that toppled Mubarak in February a day after heavy clashes left two demonstrators dead.
A funeral procession for one of the victims in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria erupted into clashes with police, the official MENA news agency reported.
Protesters in the central city of Qena were surrounded by police to prevent them from reaching the security headquarters.
A security official told AFP that 55 arrests were made on Sunday. Protesters are demanding that the military council which took over when Mubarak was ousted cede power to a civilian authority.
Egypt’s cabinet, which held crisis talks for several hours before moving en masse to the headquarters of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) for another meeting, said in a statement that parliamentary elections scheduled for November 28 would proceed on schedule.
Throughout the day, sporadic clashes erupted near the interior ministry on the outskirts of Tahrir Square, which was covered by clouds of tear gas and littered with stones and glass.
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Egyptian police and military forces used tear gas to clear central Cairo’s Tahrir Square of thousands of protesters, but withdrew after facing heavy resistance from the demonstrators.
The situation remained fluid with ongoing clashes around Tahrir the symbolic heart of protests that toppled Mubarak in February a day after heavy clashes left two demonstrators dead.
A funeral procession for one of the victims in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria erupted into clashes with police, the official MENA news agency reported.
Protesters in the central city of Qena were surrounded by police to prevent them from reaching the security headquarters.
A security official told AFP that 55 arrests were made on Sunday. Protesters are demanding that the military council which took over when Mubarak was ousted cede power to a civilian authority.
Egypt’s cabinet, which held crisis talks for several hours before moving en masse to the headquarters of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) for another meeting, said in a statement that parliamentary elections scheduled for November 28 would proceed on schedule.
Throughout the day, sporadic clashes erupted near the interior ministry on the outskirts of Tahrir Square, which was covered by clouds of tear gas and littered with stones and glass.
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