Police forces on Tuesday used live ammunition to shoot protesters in Wadi Gedid Governorate, south west of Cairo. The protesters had voiced objections to reinstating an officer whom they described as “authoritative."
Eye-witnesses said 61 people were injured in clashes with security forces in the province's capital, Kharga.
The citizens rejected the return of Captain Ahmed al-Sokkary, whom authorities had removed from service during the first days of nationwide protests calling on President Hosni Mubarak to resign.
Eyewitnesses said police employed tear gas, live ammunition, and rubber bullets to quell protesters who assembled in front of the police station, hurling stones and water bottles at security forces.
A medical source said that some citizens volunteered to carry the protesters to Kharga hospital, while others were taken to the main hospital at the neighboring governorate of Assiut.
Other witnesses said plainclothes security agents attacked demonstrators, in a scene that recalled similar clashes in Egypt during recent protests over the past two weeks.
