CAIRO — Thousands of demonstrators barricaded themselves in Cairo’s central square with burned-out troop carriers and barbed wire Saturday and demanded the removal of the military council ruling Egypt, infuriated after soldiers stormed their protest camp overnight, killing at least one person and injuring 71 others.
In a sign the confrontation could escalate, the military warned Saturday evening that it will clear Tahrir Square of protesters “with all force and decisiveness” for life to get back to normal.
The warning could presage a repeat of the scene before dawn Saturday, when hundreds of soldiers, including a highly trained parachute unit, swarmed into Tahrir Square. They fired in the air, beat protesters with clubs and shocked some with electrical batons.
Troops dragged away some protesters, while others staggered away bleeding from beatings and gunshot wounds. Witnesses reported two killed, though the Health Ministry insisted there was only one death.
“It was like a horror movie,” said Mohammed Yehia, an activist and university student from the Nile Delta who was among the protesters.
The confrontation marks a dangerous juncture in Egypt’s three months of upheaval.
When longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted Feb. 11 after 18 days of mass demonstrations against his authoritarian rule, protesters hugged and kissed soldiers on tanks in Tahrir Square, praising them for protecting their “revolution.” Most welcomed the handover of power to the Armed Forces’ Supreme Council, a body of top generals headed by Defense Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.
In the weeks since, tensions have risen. Protest leaders have been critical of the military council’s handling of the post-Mubarak transition, and the public has been angered by its failure to prosecute the former president. Both sides also worked to stay on good terms.
The overnight clashes only fed accusations among some protesters that the military — especially Tantawi, a longtime Mubarak loyalist — was only trying to preserve the ousted president’s regime.
The protest movement appeared deeply divided over how to react. Some demanded protesters push ahead with the confrontation with the military, while others warned a conflict with the army — Egypt’s most powerful institution — would be disastrous for the movement, saying some form of coexistence must be found.
Egypt’s largest Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, also warned against any attempt to cause divisions between the people and the army, calling them “one hand.”
