Students launched protests Wednesday in different universities, leading to the eruption of clashes between demonstrators and police forces.
The pro-Muslim Brotherhood National Alliance Supporting Legitimacy (NASL) had called for mass demonstrations in all squares and universities starting March 19 “to mark the third anniversary of the 2011 constitutional amendments,” according to NASL’s Facebook page Wednesday.
Over the past two weeks, NASL had continuously called for demonstrations starting March 19 to last until the end of the month.
In Al-Azhar University, which had witnessed demonstrations by both male and female students in recent days, student protesters clashed with security forces, Youm7 reported.
Police forces entered the university campus to control the “rioting” students and fired tear gas canisters and birdshot at students who were intending to block El-Nasr Street, according to Youm7. The students responded by firing flares and fireworks.
Female students also marched outside the university heading towards Rabaa al-Adaweya Square in Nasr City. Security forces fired tear gas canisters outside the Faculty of Islamic Studies to prevent the protesters from reaching the square, Youm7 reported.
In Cairo University, administrative security personnel closed the university’s gates after clashes erupted between students and security forces, an eyewitness told The Cairo Post.
Abdel Halim Abdallah, a Daily News Egypt reporter, tweeted that tear gas was fired outside the main gates of the Cairo University and that a “Female student was injured in the eye with birdshots” at the university’s Faculty of Engineering.
Youm7 reported that students in Cairo University set fire to car tires and rubbish bins outside the university’s main gate to counter the effects of tear gas.
Hundreds of students organized protests outside Cairo University’s Central Library to demand the release of detained colleagues, according to Youm7, which added that some of the students beat drums during their march and chanted against the army and police.
In Alexandria University, clashes erupted between protesting students and security forces, who fired tear gas to disperse marches.
In Helwan University, students chanted against the police and raised symbols commemorating the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in dispersals. The students also denounced the return of university security and demanded the release of detained colleagues, Youm7 reported.
According to Youm7, in Mansoura University, “A number of protesting students assaulted a student with a knife … inside the campus, because he was taking photos of their march.”
In Beni Suef governorate, clashes erupted between protesters and army and police forces, leading to the death of a student and the injury of three others who were participating in a march.
