Egyptian police disperse rare, small protests; 10 arrested

Egyptian police dispersed exceptionally rare, small street protests that erupted in a rastern province on Friday and arrested 10 demonstrators, a security official said.

development — an unusual show of defiance in a country that has moved to stamp out nearly all dissent — comes one year after allegations of military corruption touched off a wave of anti-government protests in Cairo and several or cities.

According to official, dozens of residents of Shata, a working-class vill in Mediterranean province of Damietta, joined protest as y poured out of mosques after Friday midday prayers. security official spoke on condition of anymity because he was t authorized to speak to media.

He did t elaborate on how police mand to quell protests, beyond saying y have arrested “rioters.”

Video clips that circulated on social media during day show what appear to be protesters in several location marching in streets against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. foot could t be independently verified.

In sourn city of Luxor, police also arrested four people who h “intended to spark riots” for possession of Molotov cocktails, ar security official said. He also spoke on condition of anymity for same reason as his colleague.

In years after el-Sissi led military’s removal in 2013 of country’s first democratically elected yet divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, who hailed from Muslim Brorhood, his government has launched an unprecedented crackdown, silencing critics and arresting thousands.

Last September, Mohamed Ali, a former Egyptian military contractor and self-proclaimed whistleblower living in exile in Spain, kindled a series of street protests with widely-watched videos that accused government of wasting funds on lavish projects. His rants infuriated many poor and middle-class Egyptians squeezed by years of austerity measures that have m struggling to pay for basic goods.

protests were swiftly quashed. Thousands of people landed in jail, according to lawyers’ estimates.

In late August, el-Sissi drew scorn on social media when, during a fiery speech about need to ericate illegal housing nationwide. He defended his policies and said that if people didn't agree with m, “I can just leave."

Soon, a hashtag started trending on Twitter asking him to do just that. Early this month, when bulldozers rolled into an impoverished, informal settlement in rrn seaside city of Alexandria, residents thronged street to block wrecking crews, chanting against government, according to videos streamed live and shared widely on YouTube.

For past week, which marks anniversary of limited protest movement sparked by Ali’s corruption allegations, videos have shown small, scattered protests breaking out across mostly poor and rural provinces.

Meanwhile, pro-government Egyptian news outlets on Friday flooded ir websites with ims of empty streets and intersections across country “without any demonstrations.” State-run media accuses w outlawed Muslim Brorhood, branded as a terrorist organization, of fomenting protests to undermine country’s stability.

Im: Representative/Unsplash