03/02/2011 12:09
Egyptian Health Ministry: Five killed in Cairo fighting
Egyptian Health Minister Ahmed Samih Farid told state television Thursday five had died and 836 were wounded in fighting which erupted on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
He said most of the casualties were due to stone throwing and attacks with metal rods and sticks.
Several thousand supporters of President Hosni Mubarak attacked anti-government protesters in Cairo Wednesday by raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence.
The protesters accused Mubarak's regime of unleashing a force of paid thugs and plainclothes police to crush their unprecedented 9-day-old movement demanding his ouster, a day after the 82-year-old president refused to step down.