Egypt’s Security Forces clear Tahrir Square ending the protests

Egypt's CSF clear Tahrir Square on Saturday

Thousands of Egyptians have been protesting in Cairo Tahrir Square and at the US Embassy against the anti-Islam movie which insulted Prophet Mohamed and Muslim people. The protests continued since the 11 September, sometimes becoming violent.

The relatively peaceful character of the demonstrations changed later on Wednesday, and the clashes erupted between some protesters and Egyptian Security Forces protecting the territory and the building of the US Embassy. The protesters were throwing the rocks and stones and even Molotov cocktails and were trying to attack the embassy, while the CSF used tear gas and fired bird-shots to disperse the crowds of angry protesters.

Despite the numerous calls of Egyptian political forces and also Muslim Brotherhood, who were calling for organizing the million-man march on Friday, to maintain the peaceful nature of the protests and to take part in the sit-ins to voice their demands, some of the protesters continued the street battles with the security forces during Friday protests and until the early hours of Saturday.

But at the morning of Saturday, around 9 a.m. Egyptian time, hundreds of Egyptian CSF and personnel in the civil clothes stormed the iconic Tahrir Square in Cairo and also the roads around it and leading to the US Embassy. They cleared the square, beating and arresting the remained protesters and ending the four-day protests. The operation lasted nearly 20 minutes.

Tahrir Square now is empty, there are no protesters there anymore, and the traffic is renewed. The streets close to the US Embassy are also clear of the protesters, and the traffic is flowing normally. The street vendors presented in Tahrir during the protests were also removed and cannot be seen at the moment.

The state employed workers were cleaning Tahrir Square and the neighboring streets, with all the banners and the stages from the Friday protests being removed.

Egypt's CSF clear Tahrir Square on Saturday

The vehicles and trucks with the CSF personnel are still present in the area close to Tahrir and US Embassy controlling the situation.

It is estimated that around 262 persons were arrested by Egyptian Security Forces during the days of the protests, with most of them arrested and detained on Saturday. The eyewitnesses reported that a lot of people who were arrested and detained were beaten by CSF personnel and police.

According to the information of Egypt’s Ministry of Health the four-day protests left two people dead and nearly 220 injured. Most of the injured were transferred to Cairo’s Qasr El-Eini hospital. The investigation is ongoing regarding the deaths and the reasons of the deaths of the two killed protesters.