Clashes in Egypt’s Suez on second day of protests against el-Sisi
EGYPT
- Security forces in Egypt have clashed with hundreds of protesters in the port city of Suez, according to media reports, firing tear gas and live rounds to disperse crowds calling for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to quit. The unrest on Saturday came a day after thousands of people took to the streets in several Egyptian cities in a rare show of dissent against el-Sisi, who has overseen a broad crackdown on dissent including the jailing of thousands of dissidents and the effective banning of protests. A protester in Suez told the AFP news agency about 200 people headed to the city’s central area for a second night in a row, where they were met by security forces and armoured vehicles.
“They [security force] fired tear gas, rubber and live bullets and there were injuries”, the man who declined to be named told the AFP. Another resident, who also preferred to remain anonymous, said the tear gas was so thick it had reached her apartment block a few kilometres away. “My nose started burning up. The smell was seeping through the balcony. I also saw some youth run and hide in our street”, the woman said. Protests were also reported in Giza, the capital Cairo’s twin city, and in the northern town of Mahalla. Al Jazeera is banned from reporting inside Egypt. Meanwhile, a heavy security presence was maintained in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicentre of Egypt’s 2011 revolution that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. Egypt’s stock exchange also suspended trading for 30 minutes on Sunday after the EGX 100 index fell by 5 percent, bourse data showed. Analysts linked the sharp drop in share prices to small protests that broke out in Cairo and other cities on Friday, reported Reuters. It was the first time the exchange had suspended trading in the EGX 100 because of a 5 percent swing since 2016.
(Al Jazeera)