Security services in the city of Assiut, Upper Egypt on Wednesday arrested 50 members of the National Association for Change, the Muslim Brotherhood group and the 6 April movement. Twenty women and 30 young men were arrested.
Witnesses said the security forces, dressed in civilian clothes, beat demonstrators in the city’s Magzoub Square with batons, seized their ID cards and mobile phones, and used force to disperse them.
Assiut Security Chief Ahmed Gamal Eddin directed 3000 officers to comb the streets. They carried water cannons, machine guns and tear gas.
In the Nile Delta city of Mahalla, security forces detained dozens of political activists while they held a meeting at the Democratic Front Party headquarters.
Among the detained were members of the Kefaya opposition movement, the Democratic Front Party and ElBaradei's support campaign.
Witnesses said security forces continue to surround the building and arrest anyone coming out.
