Deadly Clashes in Cairo

A score or more of people were killed in Cairo on Wednesday as unknown assailants attacked protestors outside the Egyptian Defense Ministry. It is unknown if all of the dead are from the protestors, or if some of their attackers were killed as well.

Footage from state TV showed full on pitched battles taking place between the two sides. The fighting only ended when military vehicles and riot police formed lines between the two sides.

The protestor camp was rumored to have become armed after one of their number was killed earlier in the week. They are protesting the removal of of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, an ultraconservative Islamist, from the Presidential ballot. Ismail has dual citizenship in the US, and therefore is not eligible to run.

Protestors accuse the interim military government of sending plain clothed soldiers, or of hiring thugs, to create the violence. Whereas state media said it was residents of the neighborhood, upset over the disruption of their lives, who attacked the protest.