Police in Cairo set off salvos of tear gas and fired birdshot at protesters angry over a deadly soccer riot as fresh clashes on Egyptian streets killed three people yesterday, a volunteer doctor and health officials said.
One man died just meters away from the Egyptian Interior Ministry, which has become a target for demonstrators furious that the police failed to prevent a soccer riot that killed 74 people in the Mediterranean city of Port Said on Wednesday. It was the world’s worst soccer violence in 15 years.
Protesters angry over the deadly riot turned their rallies in Cairo and the city of Suez into a call for Egypt’s ruling military council, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, to surrender power because of what they say is the military’s mismanagement of the country’s transition to democracy. More rallies were planned yesterday.
A volunteer doctor said the man in Cairo died of wounds from birdshot fired at close range during clashes at dawn yesterday. The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals by the authorities, said his field hospital close to Cairo’s Tahrir Square was overwhelmed with injuries overnight.
Earlier yesterday, police shot dead two protesters in clashes with security forces in Suez, health official Mohammed Lasheen said. About 3,000 people had demonstrated in front of the city’s police headquarters and police fired tear gas and live ammunition, witnesses said. A third protester in Suez was in critical condition because of a wound to the neck. Suez city security chief denied the deaths there were from police gunfire.
In Cairo, protests spiraled into violent clashes between the protesters and police late on Thursday as demonstrators charged toward the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police. Thousands threw rocks, and police responded with tear gas and birdshot.
The clashes intensified overnight, with protesters pushing through the barricades erected around the fortress-like building and bringing down a wall of concrete blocks erected outside the ministry two months ago, after similar violence left more than 40 protesters dead.
The ministry urged the protesters in a statement “to listen to the sound of wisdom ... at these critical moments” and prevent the spread of chaos.
Wednesday’s deaths of 74 people in a post-match stadium riot in Port Said fueled anger at Egypt’s ruling military generals and the already widely distrusted police force. The police had become notorious as the key tool of the oppressive regime of former -Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising in February last year.
Many in the public and in the newly elected parliament blamed the new leadership for letting the soccer riot happen — whether because of a lack of control by the security forces, or as some allege, intentionally.
The soccer violence began after home team al-Masry pulled out a surprise 3-1 victory over Cairo-based al-Ahly, Egypt’s most powerful club. Al-Masry fans stormed the field, rushing past lines of police to attack al-Ahly’s fans.
Survivors described a nightmarish scene in the Port Said stadium. Police stood by doing nothing, they said, as fans of al-Masry attacked al-Ahly supporters, stabbing them and throwing them off bleachers.
The parliament later accused the interior minister of “negligence.”
Youssef, an 18-year old al-Ahly supporter who was being treated yesterday by the field doctor in Cairo for birdshot splashed on his back and arms, said he had been throwing rocks at the police when he was injured.
“What can I do? I am here to get justice for my beloved brothers who died. I will either get it or I’d rather die like them,” said Youssef, who would not give his family name because he feared for his life.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source