Egypt Protest:Troops Drag, Beat Female Protesters
Egyptian army soldiers arrest a woman protester during clashes with military police near Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt Friday, Dec. 16, 2011.Troops pulled women across the pavement by their hair, knocking off their Muslim headscarves.Nearby in Tahrir, protesters held up newspapers with the image of the half-stripped woman on the front page to passing cars, shouting sarcastically, “This is the army that is protecting us!”
The clashes began early Friday with a military assault on a 3-week-old sit-in outside the Cabinet building by protesters demanding the military hand over power immediately to civilians.
More than a week of heavy fighting erupted in November, leaving more than 40 dead – but that was largely between police and protesters, with the military keeping a low profile.
