Egypt marks anniversary of anti-Mubarak uprising; deadly clashes erupt

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Men add fuel to the fire burning in front of ruling party headquarters in Tahrir Square, where protests continued into the night. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters flooded the streets of downtown Cairo and into Tahrir Square, demanding the ouster of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Men are tied together after being detained by the Egyptian army, which said they were transporting drugs. The army took command of the city after police abandoned their positions. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A protester shows his improvised English sign in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Thousands filled the square calling for the ouster of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of protesters fill Tahrir Square, decrying the corruption, unemployment and political repression under the long rule of President Hosni Mubarak. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Women were among the thousands of demonstrators opposing the government of President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for three decades.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Students in jeans and mothers in hijabs took part in the protests in Tahrir Square. They chanted “Freedom!” and “Down with Mubarak!” (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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“Don’t just sit there; get up, get up and join us!” one protester shouted to shopkeepers who watched marchers go by. The demonstrations were fueled in part by a generation of angry young Egyptians born after Mubarak came to power in 1981. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Egyptians were inspired by the revolt in Tunisia, where weeks of demonstrations ended President Zine el Abidine ben Ali’s 23-year rule and forced him to flee. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Soldiers in the Egyptian army sit in position in Tahrir Square. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo was filled on the sixth day of protests. After fighter jets buzzed overhead and a column of tanks tried to enter the square, thousands of protesters defied a government-imposed curfew to gather in a peaceful nighttime demonstration. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman watches from an overpass as more members of the Egyptian army roll into downtown near Tahrir Square. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A lone protester steps into the path of an oncoming tank near Tahrir Square. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters continue to defy the government-imposed curfew and spend the night in Tahrir Square. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters make their opinion of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak clear by stepping on his photograph. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Egypt’s youth and the influence of the Internet were on full display in Tahrir Square. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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A Mubarak supporter who made his way into the center of a massive antigovernment crowd in Tahrir Square is silenced after shouting his support for the president. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Antigovernment demonstrators continue their occupation of Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. Tanks and protesters remain in the square as night falls. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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More and more martyr posters, images of those killed since the protests began, are raised in the square as the demonstrations continue. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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An injured protester returns to Tahrir Square to continue demonstrating. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Many protesters, seemingly in for the long haul, put up plastic tarps creating tent cities in the square in downtown Cairo. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

By Laura King

Jan. 25, 2014 11:25 AM PT

<i>This post has been updated, as indicated below.</i>

CAIRO -- Egyptians turned out Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the start of their dramatic Arab Spring uprising against Hosni Mubarak -- with pro-government gatherings going undisturbed by police and anti-government marches broken up by police with tear gas and birdshot. Clashes left at least nine people dead, authorities reported.

[Updated 11:25 a.m. PST, Jan. 25.: The Egyptian Ministry of Health later updated the death toll to 29.]

A day after four explosions jolted the capital, killing six people, many Egyptians were anxious about going out into the streets. One small early-morning blast went off near a police training center, but caused no serious injuries or damage.

A militant group that until recently has been active mainly in the Sinai peninsula -- Ansar Bayt Maqdis, or Partisans of Jerusalem -- claimed responsibility for the Cairo attacks Friday.

In tightly guarded Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the anti-Mubarak uprising, the anniversary brought displays of adulation for Gen. Abdel-Fattah Sisi, the army chief who is being urged by many to run for president. He led the popularly supported coup that deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July.

Many saw the anniversary as a chance to vent renewed anger at Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, and express support for the interim government, which has promised to hold presidential and parliamentary elections this year.

“The Brotherhood and their associates can try to spread fear all they want,” said Mohamed Salem, a middle-aged insurance company worker on his way to Tahrir Square. “They can try to bomb the whole country, but that will not scare us.”

Close to the square and in several other districts of Cairo, police forcefully broke up marches by Morsi supporters, making dozens of arrests. Similar rallies Friday resulted in 14 deaths nationwide, officials said; double-digit death tolls when security forces clash with Morsi backers are not unusual on Fridays, the main prayer day of the week.

On Thursday, the rights group Amnesty International said 1,400 people had died in political violence during the military-backed government’s seven months in power, most of them supporters of Morsi. The Brotherhood has been designated a terrorist organization, and thousands of its followers are in jail.

The interim government has also moved against some of the secular figures who helped spearhead the 2011 uprising against Mubarak. Those targeted recently have included academics, filmmakers, bloggers, journalists and activists.

Special correspondent Amro Hassan contributed to this report.

Egypt marks anniversary of anti-Mubarak uprising; deadly clashes erupt

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