Death toll in Egypt clashes hits 49

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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. 26, 2014 12:39 AM PT

CAIRO -- The death toll in Saturday’s clashes on the third anniversary of Egypt’s democratic uprising climbed to 49, with nearly 250 injured, the Health Ministry said Sunday, making it the most violent day in four months.

Saturday was largely given over to state-sanctioned expressions of devotion to army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Sisi. But police dealt harshly with marches by his opponents -- either supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi or secular activists who had helped spearhead the 2011 Tahrir Square uprising against autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.

The Interior Ministry said more than 1,000 arrests were made across the country -- again, the highest in months. The last bout of street violence on this scale was on Oct. 6, when a holiday celebrating the Egyptian military brought rival demonstrators into the street. More than 50 people were killed that day.

Political violence in Egypt has surged in the seven months since Morsi was removed by the army after huge protests demanding his ouster. More than 1,400 people have been killed in such violence since July, Amnesty International said last week. Most of them were supporters of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, but police have also used deadly force against secular anti-government marchers.

Secularists have also been the target of a recent wave of arrests that has swept up academics, filmmakers, activists and journalists.

Laura.King@latimes.com

Twitter: @laurakingLAT