CAIRO: Violent clashes have killed at least 24 people and over 200 are reported wounded in Cairo after the country's military, security forces and citizens fired upon a protest set to advocate for Coptic rights and protection in front of Egypt's Maspero state TV building on Sunday. By 1 AM on Monday morning, the military had instituted a curfew in downtown's Tahrir Square. Gunshots still rang out across the Egyptian capital, but numbers of protesters had dwindled. The protest had developed far beyond its initial Coptic rights agenda, as Egyptians of various backgrounds gathered together in mass demonstration, chanting, “Muslims and Christians are one hand,” and employing slogans against the army. “It's just like the Mubarak era when we kicked out the police. Now we need to kick out the army,” Amr, a Muslim man who was injured in the clashes, told Bikyamasr.com, as rows of military soldiers could be seen marching throughout downtown Cairo. Earlier in the evening, a military vehicle ran over protesters, injuring hoards of people. Protesters attacked the vehicle, removing the driver and dragging him through a side street. “Its a cat and mouse game, where the army is coming in and inciting violence, and then retracting to let the scene intensify,” reported a Bikyamasr.com correspondent from the scene. “We still hear gunfire down here,” he went on. Coptic protesters reportedly set fire to a police car in front of The Coptic Hospital in downtown Cairo, where many of the wounded and dead had been brought for care. Egyptian state TV claimed that Coptic Christians initiated the attack, angering many who believe that the inaccurate state TV discourse will insight further violence. Coptic Christians demonstrated last Tuesday in front of the Maspero building, and were met by Egypt's military police then as well. Early into the morning, police fired shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd that remained. The protests were organized after Muslim citizens attacked a Coptic church in Aswan on September 30, claiming that the church did not obtain proper permits for construction. Christians are angry at Egypt's interim ruling government for failing to protect Copts during an onslaught of anti-Christian attacks in Egypt this year. ** Joseph Mayton and Manar Ammar contributed to this report. BM
