Some 10 protesters were injured in an armed attack perpetrated by unknown people in the first hours of Tuesday in Tahrir Square, where an open-ended sit-in has been staged since 23 November. The attackers fired birdshots at protesters in the square, nine of whom were hurt in their arms and legs, while one protester suffered from a head injury. The attack caused a wave of chaos in the square, before it became calm again. In the midst of chaos, protesters chanted, "the people want the fall of the regime." Popular committees charged with securing the square spread around its main entrance for fear of the renewal of the attack. Police cars also spread around the peripheries of the square for the first time since the sit-in started. The sit-in followed a mass protest on 23 November against a freshly announced constitutional declaration by President Mohamed Morsy, through which he claimed sweeping powers including the immunization of the Constituent Assembly, which secular forces accuse of being dominated by Islamists. Morsy canceled the declaration later. Meanwhile, a referendum on the resulting constitution is due to take place on 15 December, amidst polarization between supporting Islamist forces and opposing secular ones, especially after a violent confrontation between the two groups took place on 5 December next to the presidential palace n Heliopolis.
