Cairo:
Bloodied protesters were taken to makeshift clinics in mosques and alleyways in Cairo on Wednesday, after thousands of supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak battled in central Tahrir Square.
Demonstrators rained stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening.
The two sides faced off at a front line next to the famed Egyptian Museum at the edge of Tahrir Square, where they crouched behind abandoned trucks, hurling chunks of concrete and bottles at each other.
The violence began in the early afternoon, when around 3,000 Mubarak supporters broke through a human chain of protesters trying to defend the thousands gathered in Tahrir, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
From there, it escalated into outright street battles as hundreds poured in to join each side.
Protesters were seen running with their shirts or faces bloodied.
Scores of wounded were carried to a makeshift clinic at a mosque near the square and on other side streets.
Doctors in white coats rushed about with bags of cotton, mercurochrome and bandages as ambulances were seen rushing towards Tahrir Square.
The clashes marked a dangerous new phase in Egypt's upheaval - the first significant violence between supporters of the two camps in more than a week of anti-government protests.
It erupted after Mubarak went on national television the night before and rejected demands that he step down immediately and said he would serve out the remaining seven months of his term.
A military spokesman appeared on state TV on Wednesday and asked the protesters to disperse so that life in Egypt could get back to normal.
The announcement could mark a major turn in the attitude of the army, which for the past two days has allowed protests to swell, reaching their largest size yet on Tuesday when a quarter-million anti-government demonstrators packed into Tahrir Square.
The regime for the first time began to rally supporters in significant numbers to demand an end to the unprecedented protest movement calling for Mubarak's removal.
Demonstrators rained stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening.
The two sides faced off at a front line next to the famed Egyptian Museum at the edge of Tahrir Square, where they crouched behind abandoned trucks, hurling chunks of concrete and bottles at each other.
The violence began in the early afternoon, when around 3,000 Mubarak supporters broke through a human chain of protesters trying to defend the thousands gathered in Tahrir, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
From there, it escalated into outright street battles as hundreds poured in to join each side.
Protesters were seen running with their shirts or faces bloodied.
Scores of wounded were carried to a makeshift clinic at a mosque near the square and on other side streets.
Doctors in white coats rushed about with bags of cotton, mercurochrome and bandages as ambulances were seen rushing towards Tahrir Square.
The clashes marked a dangerous new phase in Egypt's upheaval - the first significant violence between supporters of the two camps in more than a week of anti-government protests.
It erupted after Mubarak went on national television the night before and rejected demands that he step down immediately and said he would serve out the remaining seven months of his term.
A military spokesman appeared on state TV on Wednesday and asked the protesters to disperse so that life in Egypt could get back to normal.
The announcement could mark a major turn in the attitude of the army, which for the past two days has allowed protests to swell, reaching their largest size yet on Tuesday when a quarter-million anti-government demonstrators packed into Tahrir Square.
The regime for the first time began to rally supporters in significant numbers to demand an end to the unprecedented protest movement calling for Mubarak's removal.
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