Armed civilians attacked hundreds of Egyptian protesters outside the state security headquarters in Cairo on Sunday, as the army fired warning shots and used sticks to disperse the crowd, witnesses said.
Around 500 protesters tried to storm the headquarters of the powerful security apparatus in Cairo's Lazoghly neighbourhood and were attacked with knives and rocks by men in civilian clothing, the witness told AFP.
"The protesters were attacked by the thugs that are brought out at all the demonstrations. They had large knives and were throwing large rocks straight at the protesters," he said.
The army then began to beat the crowd with sticks, firing a series of warning shots into the air, forcing protesters to flee into side streets, he said.
"The protesters are now really angry and heading to Tahrir Square," the epicentre of anti-regime protests that toppled veteran president Hosni Mubarak in February, the witness said. A security official confirmed to AFP that men in civilian clothing had attacked the protesters outside the Lazoghly building.