3 arrests in Cairo, 5 in Alexandria during Friday protests

The nation was roiled by another bout of unrest and conflict pursuant to this week’s Friday protests, with confrontations between demonstrators, security forces and area residents leading to a sweep of arrests in cities across Egypt.

Unlike the past several Fridays, however, no casualties and few injuries were reported.

A protest in Cairo’s Haram district was forcibly dispersed by Giza security forces after demonstrators allegedly blocked Haram Street, reported the state-owned news site Ahram Gate.

Police arrested three people they claimed were Muslim Brotherhood supporters on accusations of setting a police car on fire during the confrontation. Security forces were dispatched to the area to prevent any further conflict, according to Ahram Gate.

In the Abu Soleiman district of eastern Alexandria, five others were arrested on accusations of possessing pamphlets that incited against the Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry, according to the state-owned news site EgyNews.

After a homemade bomb detonated near a military checkpoint earlier in the day, tension continued to build in Fayoum when police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrations around three of the governorate’s mosques. Authorities accused the protesters of belonging to the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, an umbrella group comprised of supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi and the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

Marches and demonstrations in other cities seemed to have ended on a more peaceful note, however.

Area residents broke up a protest in Damietta when demonstrators marched through the 4th Settlement District chanting against the military and police while brandishing Morsi posters. No injuries were reported in the incident.

The same held true in Kafr Daoud Village and Sadat City, where residents also broke up two protests without causing property damage or inflicting injuries.

In Qalyubiya, protesters allegedly affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets to chant against the military and the police, and call for the immediate release of the thousands of political detainees arrested in recent months. There were no reports of clashes.

Since Morsi’s forcible ouster last July and the brutal dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-in camps in Cairo in August that left over 1,000 dead, various political forces have marched against the military-backed interim government almost every Friday in cities across the nation, leading to thousands of arrests and injuries and hundreds of fatalities.