Egyptian soldiers charge Tahrir Square after night of violence

Reuters

Egyptian army soldiers arrest a female protester during clashes in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 17. Soldiers beat demonstrators with batons in a second day of clashes that have killed nine people and wounded more than 300, marring the first free election most Egyptians can remember.

NBC News and news services report:

Egyptian soldiers with batons charged into Tahrir Square on Saturday after fatal clashes nearby, prompting many demonstrators who have been camped there since last month to flee into side streets.

Shots were also fired in the air as the troops in riot gear pushed into the square following the eruption of a fire in the area around buildings associated with Egypt's upper house of parliament, a Reuters witness said. Troops were seen grabbing some people and beating them.

NBC News reported that protesters' tents had been set on fire. The military was confiscating cameras and attacking photographers and camera crews who had been reporting from the square, NBC said.

Eight people have been killed as clashes between troops and protesters in central Cairo spilled over into a second day, Egyptian state television reported.

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Mohamed Omar / EPA

An injured protester is taken away, during clashes with the Egyptian army in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Dce. 17.

Reuters

Egyptian army soldiers run during clashes at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Dec. 17.

Nasser Nouri / Zuma Press

Protesters throws stones during clashes with security forces, Dec. 17.

Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

Egyptian protesters set the ground floor of the building housing the ministry of transport and communications in Cairo on fire during protests in the Egyptian capital on Dec. 17.

Nasser Nouri / Zuma Press

A protester throws stones during clashes with security forces, Dec. 17.

Nasser Nasser / AP

Egyptian protesters run as they are chased by army soldiers over the Asr el-Nile bridge leading out of Tahrir Square, in Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 17.

Relatives mourn slain Egyptian protesters who were killed during the latest clashes with Egyptian soldiers, while they wait to receive their bodies in front of the morgue in Cairo, Dec. 17.