CAIRO (AP) — Soldiers stormed an anti-military protest camp outside Egypt's Cabinet building Friday, beating women with sticks and hurling chunks of concrete and glass onto protesters from the roof of the parliament in a resurgence of turmoil only a day after millions voted in parliamentary elections.
The heavy-handed assault was an attempt to clear out protesters who have been camped out in front of the building for three weeks demanding the ruling military leave power.
But the mayhem — which came despite promises from the army-appointed prime minister that no one would try to clear the protesters by force — threatened to spark a new round of violence after deadly clashes between youth revolutionaries and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.
Several women protesters cowered on the pavement as military police beat them with truncheons and long sticks. Another woman was seen bring dragged away by her hair by soldiers.
Plainclothes and uniformed security officers were seen throwing slabs of concrete and stones on protesters from atop the parliament building, according to state TV footage and videos and photos posted by protesters on social networking sites. Protesters threw fire bombs and rocks at the security officers, lighting a part of parliament on fire and chanting "Down with the military."
"It's pretty ironic that the military is throwing rocks at protesters from the parliament building, where a sign is hanging that says democracy is the power of the people," protester Mostafa Sheshtawy said.
Hours after sunset, the crowds of protesters had grown to hundreds and clashes continued, with youths hiding behind a makeshift barrier of metal sheets and an overturned car, throwing volleys of stones at military police lined up in the broad avenue in front of the parliament and Cabinet headquarters.
There were reports of live gunfire from the rooftops. One protester, Islam Mohammed, said a fellow protester pushed him aside and was hit by a bullet in the stomach. "He took a bullet instead of me and fell to the ground. I have his blood on my shirt and hands," Mohammed said. The condition of the wounded man was not known.
The Health Ministry, cited by the state news agency, said at least 99 people were injured, including broken bones and gunshot wounds.
The assault was likely to re-ignite the tensions between revolutionaries and the military, which took power after the Feb. 11 resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The youth activists who led the protests that ousted Mubarak accuse the military of acting in the same authoritarian way as the former president.
One activist who won a parliament seat in the first round of elections on Nov. 28-29, said military police beat him with sticks on his torso and arms. "While beating me, an officer said, 'Don't imagine the parliament will protect you,'" the new MP, Ziad el-Oleimi, told The Associated Press.
"So long as Egyptians are being humiliated and beaten on the streets, that means the revolution has not reached its goals. Taking to the streets will continue," el-Oleimi said. "The people elected us so that we don't get beaten in the streets. We will not accept this again."
The clashes took place as election officials were counting ballots from the second round of Egypt's parliament elections, considered to be the freest and fairest vote in the country's modern history. A third of Egypt's provinces voted Wednesday and Thursday. Election results from the first round of voting placed Islamist parties ahead of more liberal parties born out of the anti-Mubarak uprising.
The military touted the vote as a boost to its status, and state media depicted it as the country's guardian, running images of troops protecting polling centers and soldiers carrying the elderly to the polls. Despite wide dissatisfaction with the way the military has handled the nation's transition, the armed forces retain support among many Egyptians who see it as the only entity able to run the country until presidential elections scheduled for next year.
But the new violence heavily strains the political tensions.
Two members of a civilian advisory panel created by the military earlier this month announced their resignations to protest the army's use of force. The military created the panel as a gesture to protesters, who say it has been making unilateral decisions. A number of newly elected lawmakers condemned the military for the violence.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest winner in parliamentary elections so far, said in a statement that it rejects the assault on protesters and the use of the parliament building to attack people.
In a Tweet, leading reform figure and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei wrote, "If the sit-in broke the law, isn't the cruelty and brutality used to break it up a greater violation of all human rights laws? This is not how nations are managed."
The clashes erupted late Thursday when troops moved in on the protesters, who were peacefully camped out in front of the Cabinet building. Soldiers burned protesters' tents and snatched one young man, taking him into the parliament building and beating him severely, witnesses said.
Hundreds of people rushed to join the protest after online video and photos showed people carrying the wounded man, his face and eyes bruised and swollen, his head wrapped in gauze and blood dripping from his nose.
Protester threw rocks and firebombs at military police, who fired back with water cannons and stone throwing from inside parliament. Several cars were set on fire
A number of activists reported being briefly detained by military police. It was unclear how many protesters remain in military police custody. Al Jazeera English reported that American-born producer Evan Hill was beaten by military police and his equipment confiscated. He received three stitches to his head.
The military's assault is also a potential embarrassment to Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, who vowed last month that he would not use force to break up the sit-in.
The military said al-Ganzouri would have greater power than the preceding government, which stepped down amid the November protests amid criticism that it was simply a facade for the ruling generals.
"Who has power and who is responsible?" asked ElBaradei on his Twitter account.
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Associated Press correspondent Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report from Cairo.
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