Fighting in Cairo Continues into Thursday

by C. L. Cook

The fighting continues today, after a night of clashes in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square between elements of the Mubarak regime, its supporters, and those taking part in the massive so-called 'Million Egyptian March' demonstrations, who came out in their hundreds of thousands Tuesday.

 

Jan25 is a workaround providing live information from Egypt

 

The peaceful manifestation in the square quickly turned violent early Wednesday morning, when police thugs, recruited goons, and genuine supporters of the embattled dictatorship were allowed past military barriers into the Tahrir, where they set upon the men, women, and children occupying the square with rocks, fire bombs, batons, bars, and firearms.

 

Until this orchestrated assault, one the regime still denies being behind, those inside Tahrir said, stringent screening for weapons had prevented "so much as a pin" being allowed by way of weaponry into the square. The military, the only institution that was, until yesterday universally respected, had shielded the demonstrators, promising not to fire on, or arrest them.

 

[UPDATE: Al Jazeera English reports distant, laser sighted sniper fire into Tahrir Square.As many as ten dead.]

Rock throwing and back and forth chanting by opposing groups was suddenly broken in the early morning when a bizarre cavalry charge of a half dozen horse and camels, supported by a phalanx of large men, charged into the crowd, setting off what would become a bizarre spectacle more familiar to another century, or perhaps a sword and sandal epic film.

 

The fighting worked itself to a stand-off, seeing make-shift barriers erected by defenders of the square, beset by Molotov cocktail and rock throwers, who had taken the high ground, dropping petrol bombs on the demonstrators from the roofs of buildings adjacent to the square, and bridge approaches to it. Armoured units of the military blockaded bridge access to those demonstrators attempting to attack the bridge overpasses. The army occasionally fired heavy machine guns into the air to dissuade them.

 

The besieged demonstrators, including women, children, and citizens of all classes and descriptions, were fired upon during the night. At least five were killed within the barricade, though the cause of all those deaths is still unclear.*

 

Journalists were attacked and beaten by mobs loyal to the regime, and arrests continue today, even as thousands of the city's citizens stream back to the square to reinforce those who spent the entire night Wednesday dodging rocks, bullets, and the rain of Molotov cocktails.

 

Egypt's prime minister apologized while addressing a press conference shortly after noon local time, even as journalists reporting via Twitter, freed from the government shutdowns that had plagued all social media and internet service since the beginning of demonstrations a week ago, report the police and army arresting colleagues, saying they fear the worst is yet to come.

 

Al Jazeera English (AJE), whose own correspondents have been targeted by pro-Mubarak elements, (as well as harrying international luminary journalists, CNN's Anderson Cooper) report the government pressured the Vodafone mobile telephone operator to broadcast pro-regime propaganda throughout the last 24 hours. Those attacks against journalists are being condemned by the United States government, whose ambivalent responses to the mass demonstrations are blamed in part for Mubarak's heavy-handed actions.

 

International rights groups are condemning the Egyptian government, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) charging the Mubarak regime with "criminal negligence" regarding the death and injuries suffered by the overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrators.

 

The call on the street from the, largely unorganized manifestation of mass dissent, is for another massive demonstration Friday in efforts to force Mubarak out of office.

 

Meanwhile, the fight continues in the streets of Egypt's capital, with gunfire heard ringing throughout the city, with more people coming out to reinforce the demonstration, even as the curfew and nightfall nears.