Ongoing unrest in Egypt

Cairo street battles rage for third day

Twelve killed and more than 2,500 wounded in clashes over authorities' failure to prevent Port Said football violence.

al Jazeera,

4 February, 2012

At least 12 people have been killed in a third day of deadly clashes in Cairo, as anger at Egypt's ruling military boiled over after 72 people died in football-related violence.

Egypt's tax authority building in Cairo was set on fire as the street protests against army rule raged into the early hours of Sunday, state TV footage showed.

Parts of the building, close to the interior ministry, were set ablaze, state TV said.

Police fired tear gas and birdshot at protesters on Saturday, after dozens of protesters threw stones at officers guarding the interior ministry hundreds of metres from the capital's Tahrir Square.

In the canal city of Suez, two people died from wounds sustained in clashes overnight, medics said. The health ministry said 2,532 people have been injured since the violence erupted.

Five people were also hurt in overnight clashes outside police headquarters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the official MENA news agency reported.

'Security vacuum'

Marchers had taken to the streets nationwide on Friday to demand that Egypt's ruling generals cede power immediately after a night of violence in several cities.

Protesters, many of them organised supporters of Cairo's main football clubs known as the Ultras, held up a huge banner to the police that read: "Those who didn't deserve to die have died at the hands of those who don't deserve to live."

Many of the dead in Wednesday's football riot in the northern city of Port Said were thought to have been Al-Ahly supporters, set upon by partisans of the local Al-Masry side after the Cairo team lost 3-1.

Egypt declared three days of mourning for more than 70 people who died in Wednesday's football riots [Reuters]

The Ultras played a prominent role among anti-government elements in the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak a year ago, and commentators and citizens have suggested pro-Mubarak forces were behind the incident, or at least complicit.

In the ongoing aftermath, rocks and stones flew in all directions on Friday as police vans in Cairo repeatedly charged demonstrators.

At one point, police clubbed protesters just metres away from the interior ministry.

A soldier injured outside the interior ministry on Thursday died in hospital on Friday, MENA said.

In a sign of increased insecurity, armed assailants carrying automatic weapons stormed a police station in east Cairo, freeing detainees before torching it.

And in the Dokki neighbourhood, a group of men attacked a police station, taking weapons from the building.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) blamed the unrest on "foreign and domestic hands targeting the country".

In a statement on Facebook, it urged "all political and national forces of this great nation to take a national and historic role and intervene ... to return stability".

Spreading unrest

Al Jazeera’s Sue Turton, reporting from Cairo, said the ongoing nationwide protests are "another symptom of the security vacuum going on across the country".

Many anti-government activists and loyal football fans, known as Ultras, blame the country's military leadership for either conspiring to foment the Port Said violence or negligently allowing it to occur.

The SCAF has pledged to cede full powers to civilian rule when a president is elected by the end of June, but its opponents believe it intends to hold on to power behind the scenes after a transfer to civilian rule.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said that during Friday prayers held in Tahrir Square, the leading cleric was questioning where the security forces were when the bloodshed happened.

She went on to say that since prayers ended the confrontations in front of the ministry of interior were continuing.

"The people wanted answers as to how exactly the football disaster happened," she said. "The question is, what exactly was the responsibility of the governor and the head of the police force there?"

"Furthermore, why did the police force, as seen on cameras, remain on the sidelines and not engage the crowds?" 

"More importantly, people are directing their anger at the ruling military council, saying it is not just about the failure of the police force, but a whole failure of leadership."

Fans of the home side, Al Masry, stormed the pitch after a 3-1 victory against visiting favourites Al Ahly. Witnesses said security forces had allowed men into the stadium carrying knives and sticks. Though the majority of deaths reportedly came from those crushed or forced to fall off of terraces during the stampede, some were reportedly stabbed to death.

At least 52 people have been arrested and authorities said the search for suspects linked to the violence was continuing.

The stampede capped a week of violence in which several armed robberies and kidnappings were reported across Egypt, leading some to suspect the government had arranged the escalating chaos in an attempt to convince citizens of the need to maintain harsh emergency laws.

In the Sinai, the brief abduction on Friday of two US tourists and their guide by masked gunmen dealt a new blow to Egypt's already hard-hit tourism sector, despite their release unharmed several hours later.

Our correspondent said they were taken "by a Bedouin tribe that has been protesting over the past couple of months ... and is certainly part of larger breakdown in security ... an explosion in incidents from kidnappings to armed robberies".