Update: Clashes at Al-Azhar and Cairo universities

Security forces arrested several students during clashes at Al-Azhar University and confronted demonstrations by Cairo University students blocking traffic in the Giza area on Sunday, state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported. 

Protesters blocked roads around Al-Azhar campus, after which anti-riot police forced students to retreat inside the university, where they carried out a number of arrests.

Mohamed Atef, acting president of Al-Azhar University Student Union said that security forces used tear gas and rubber pellets to disperse protesters, resulting in several injuries among both male and female students. Atef said one female student was hit in the eye with a pellet.

Atef recounted that students had formed a human chain outside the campus. After security forces dispersed them, the students retreated inside the campus, where they continued their protest.

He added that security was arresting students arbitrarily. While no official number had been released, Atef claimed that five female students were among those arrested.

Atef said that security forces have been “occupying campus” for weeks, and that on Sunday several “suspicious looking plain clothed personnel” were inside the university grounds looking for specific students to arrest.

Clashes between Cairo University students and police also erupted later Sunday afternoon after Muslim Brotherhood affiliated students allegedly set a traffic booth on fire and threw Molotov cocktails at a police armored vehicle and a car parked in front of the Giza Security Directorate, Al-Ahram reported.

Security forces responded with tear gas. The clashes caused traffic congestion on Mourad Street and subsequently most of the Giza area after students set a number of tires on fire, State run portal Egy News reported.

Later, students completely blocked Mourad Street, further aggravating drivers and pedestrians in the area.

Since former President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in July, protests organized by Students Against the Coup (SAC) have been confronted by security forces, and the level of violence has escalated on campuses across the country.

SAC is a movement launched by students who support Morsi’s return to power. Four students have died in clashes between the police and demonstrators since July. Three of those killed were students at Al-Azhar University and one was enrolled at Cairo University.

Student activists had called for a boycott of exams, in protest against the student deaths and the arrest of dozens.