Tahrir Square Under Attack: 32 Egyptians Killed, 1,750 Injured in Protests Against Military Rule

 AMY GOODMAN: Mass protests in Egypt have entered a third day in cities across the country calling for the country’s military rulers to quickly transfer power to a civilian government, the fiercest clashes taking place in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where thousands of protesters have been battling with security forces continuously since Saturday morning.

Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous is on the ground in Cairo. He’s been covering the protests since they began. He files this report.

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: Ten months after the Egyptian revolution began, Tahrir Square is once again the epicenter of a new uprising in Egypt. Thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the Supreme Council of Armed Forces that came to power after the fall of Hosni Mubarak. For close to 40 straight hours, protesters clashed with security forces in downtown Cairo in some of the fiercest street battles since the revolution began. Protests have spread to Alexandria, Suez and several other big cities. At least 12 people have been killed, according to the Ministry of Health, and more than 1,400 injured, in what has become a mass stand against military rule.

The new uprising began in the wake of a massive protest on November 18th, originally called for by Islamist groups but attended by tens of thousands of men, women and children from across the political spectrum. The protest was staged 10 days before parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place. Thousands gathered in Tahrir on Friday to demonstrate against the military council’s rule and its recent moves to control the writing of the constitution and entrench its grip on power. While most left the square by nightfall, a few hundred stayed the night for an open-ended sit-in. But early the next morning, Central Security Forces stormed Tahrir and violently dispersed those who had set up camp. It wasn’t long before hundreds of protesters descended on Tahrir in solidarity. Clashes with police quickly escalated. Protesters threw rocks while security forces used rubber bullets and a seemingly endless supply of tear gas on the crowds.

This is Shady Mohammed, a high school teacher.

SHADY MOHAMMED: [translated] This gas burns the face. It feels like there is poison in your mouth, and it affects your nervous system. They’ve been firing it since 2:00 p.m. until now, about 24 hours nonstop. We go forward, then retreat. We don’t know what they want. I was standing in the middle of the clashes. I got hit in the head with a rock and took three stitches. I’m still here, and I will stay here until we reach some kind of solution.

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: The street clashes continued unabated through Saturday night and into the next day. Many hundreds were wounded. Many were overcome by tear gas and collapsed. Many were hit directly in the face with rubber bullets. Malek Mostafa, a well-known activist, was blinded in his right eye, as were numerous others. Protesters set up field hospitals in and around the square. Mohamed Abdullah is a volunteer physician.

MOHAMED ABDULLAH: Listen, the police here is so stupid. They have no sense. They’re killing people. They shoot guns. They was targeting on me. Not around them shoot gun, they’re targeting on people. They’re targeting the bomb, the gas bombs. They don’t throw it randomly, OK? They throw in the mosque, they throw in the hospital. When they get into the square, they throw on us. They have no mind, OK? That’s all. I was there right in front of the police, OK, and bringing some patient to the clinic. They shot gas bombs. And then I was like—no barrier between us, OK? They shot me and shoot gun. I got six—six pills, six balls on my head, and two balls here, and four balls here, OK?

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