Fox Reports: Troops in riot gear swept through Cairo’s Tahrir Square, opening fire on protesters and lobbing tear gas into the crowds. At least three people were killed, pushing the death toll for four days of clashes to 14.
Maj. Gen. Adel Emara, a member of the council that took power after Hosni Mubarak’s February ouster in a popular uprising, defended the use of force against protesters.
“There is a methodical and premeditated plot to topple the state, but Egypt will not fall,” said Emara. “The media is helping sabotage the state. This is certain,” he added.
Violence has been raging in Cairo since Friday, when military forces guarding the Cabinet building near Tahrir Square heavily cracked down on a 3-week-old sit-in to demand the ruling generals immediately hand power to a civilian authority. Tahrir was the center of the uprising and remains the base of the democracy movement’s ongoing protests.
The raid early Monday appeared to be an attempt by the military to keep protesters away from key government buildings near the square, including parliament, the Cabinet headquarters and the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the hated police.
