CAIRO: An extortion attempt against shop owners in a downtown Cairo commercial street precipitated a gun battle that injured 89 people on Wednesday, the interior ministry said. The Ministry of Health said 89 were wounded in the clashes, the official MENA reported Thursday. It was the latest in a series of incidents that has many Egyptians concerned about a breakdown in law and order in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests that ousted president Hosni Mubarak from three decades of power. Gunmen menaced a number of shop owners in the El-Ataba district and wrecked at least three stores, the interior ministry said on its Facebook page. Witnesses saw dozens of people running away from the crowded street, while rounds of gunfire were fired for at least two hours. Ambulances raced to the scene. "The clashes between the parties left bystanders in terror and shock as a result of the exchange of gunfire," the ministry said, adding that police were pursuing suspects and had sent a team of investigators to the scene. Elsewhere, dozens of pro-Mubarak Egyptians gathered in front of the state television building, on the occasion of Mubarak's birthday, and clashed with bystanders. The two groups threw rocks at each other, witnesses and a security source said. On Tuesday evening, an armed group broke into a police station in central Cairo and released at least 50 detainees. A group of about 200 protesters demanding housing clashed on Tuesday with military police after trying to break into the Cairo governor's office.
