Forty-five "rioters" were arrested in the Saturday clashes that broke out between protesters and security forces in downtown Cairo, Egypt's Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
The detainees stand accused of damaging and burning police vehicles and assaulting security forces both verbally and physically, according to a statement from the ministry's media department.
Security leaders nationwide have been instructed to ramp up security around police facilities, the statement said.
"The forces did not use either live ammunition or rubber bullets," a security source said, saying that protesters were handled by legal means and that only tear gas was used.
The source said that the ministry did not resort to violence despite its mandate to use all forms of deterrence against riots and violence against its security forces.
The source said that 38 policemen and 43 civilians were injured in the clashes, with the injured officers being taken to military hospitals.
The same source said Central Security Forces have been positioned in places that typically witness large protests, such as in downtown Cairo and nearby areas.
The security source’s statements are at odds with numerous eyewitness accounts, which have said that the forces broke up the sit-in in Tahrir Square with excessive violence and used rubber bullets. Their actions have drawn condemnation from various political groups.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
