Fierce clashes broke out on Tuesday afternoon at a Nile Delta university, Al-Ahram’s Arabic website reported, as political turmoil continues to spread to Egypt’s campuses.
As violence flared at Mansoura University in the governorate of Daqahliya, a guard office on campus was set on fire, shop windows were smashed, and some parked vehicles in the vicinity were destroyed.
Police fired teargas at students who were holding a demonstration in support of ousted president Morsi after stones, fireworks and Molotov cocktails had been thrown. Dozens were injured in the clashes.
Egyptian universities have become a hub of protests in support of Morsi after the Muslim Brotherhood was hit hard by a sustained crackdown campaign by security forces. Protests have repeatedly spiralled into violence while dozens of students have been arrested since the start of the new academic year in September.
Students at the prestigious Islamic Al-Azhar University raided the main administrative building almost two weeks ago, prompting police to enter campus for the first time since a 2010 court ruling barring interior ministry guards from university campuses.
Hundreds of people, mostly Islamists, have been killed since the military overthrew Morsi on 3 July amid massive protests calling on him to step down after a troubled year in power. Thousands of others, including senior leaders of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, have been rounded up and detained.
Morsi himself is facing trial over charges of incitement to murder protesters and is now behind bars at a heavily fortified prison near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Source : Ahram
