The few remaining demonstrators inside Cairo’s Tahrir Square were forcibly evicted this afternoon by anti-protest civilians, who also tore down barricades blocking traffic into the square.
A group of civilians entered the square armed with sticks and began fighting with the remaining demonstrators, who have been occupying the square since Friday, calling for the prosecution of former President Hosni Mubarak. The military cleared most of the protesters by force during curfew hours on Saturday morning, leaving at least one person dead.
Protesters fled the square after the attack today and ran into side streets, where some were subsequently arrested by the military police.
Those civilians who had cleared the square accompanied the military into the center, cheering “the people and the army are one.” Cars passing through the square honked in support of the military and passersby thanked the soldiers.
“It was us, the Egyptians, who cleared the square because we were not happy about what was happening,” said one man who refused to be named.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which currently rules Egypt, released a statement on its Facebook page praising the efforts of “activists and revolutionary youth” in clearing the square and “returning life to normalcy.”
The barricades that had been blocking entrance to the square were loaded onto military trucks with the help of civilians and taken away.
In recent days, the continuing sit-in protests in Tahrir Square, once the center of the 18-day uprising that brought down Mubarak, lost the support of the public and most activist groups. Some argued that the ongoing sit-in is counter-productive and said that protesters should avoid confrontation with the military. The sit-in was also accused of disrupting economic life.
"I am happy they cleared the square so that people can get back to business," said Mohamed Abu Zaid, a lawyer standing at the edge of the square. "The next phase is more important than last," he said.
Two hours after efforts to evacuate the square began the flow of traffic had returned to normal.
