CAIRO: Security sources in Cairo's Tahrir Square have said that 83 people have been arrested after a violent confrontation between the military and protesters saw the military remove those continuing a sit-in in the Egyptian capital. Among those detained is at least one photojournalist. The Front to Defend Egypt's Protesters have listed 36 names of those arrested based on eyewitness accounts from family and friends. Two journalists were reportedly among thse detained. Eyewitnesses in the Tahrir area in downtown Cairo said early Monday evening that investigation units are roaming the streets surrounding the square and arresting people. Other eye witnesses said the military police are asking residents to report any foreigners they know about in and around the square. Bikyamasr.com cannot confirm this beyond the reports from activists. The government is defending the raid by saying they attacked and arrested “thugs” due to “increasing violence and tension.” A few activists, following the mid-afternoon raid, went on a march on side streets leading to Tahrir square chanting “down, down with the army,” and were reportedly harassed by shop owners and a few were attacked with tazers. No reports so far are confirming the number arrested or the injuries inflicted after military troops used sticks and fired shots in the air to chase protesters out of the square before taking down the makeshift tent city. Gun shots were heard and clashes between citizens and security began around 2:30 in the afternoon, eye witnesses have reported. “They are beating people,” one witness wrote on Twitter shortly after the military arrived. According to witnesses and images on Al Jazeera's Egypt service, it was chaos when the soldiers descended on the area and began beating people who had remained in the square. Many of those who had stayed in Tahrir were families of those who had been killed in the 18-day uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak on February 11. Security forces chased the protesters as they forcibly removed all tents and took over the square. One journalist at the scene reported that “young kids” began throwing rocks at the tanks as they rolled into the square before the attack occurred. Bystanders in the area cheered as the protesters were being removed. A few even tossed bottles of water in the military's direction as reports of beatings and arrests were streaming in. The Prime Minister's office, however, said in a statement that the military “have arrested a number of thugs.” According to another online activist, people with cameras were stopped, their memory cards were removed. One photographer said that he was not arrested “because it was Ramadan.” Most shocking, however, was the story of one young female activist, who said that when security began beating her, she told them she was pregnant. According to her, they responded, “who is the father bitch,” and hit her in the stomach. BM
