Anger flares at Egyptian army following brutal protest raid

Protesters rest after soldiers beat protesters with clubs and fired into the air in a pre-dawn raid in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO - Thousands of demonstrators barricaded themselves in Cairo's central square with burned-out troop carriers and barbed wire Saturday and demanded the removal of the military council ruling Egypt, infuriated after soldiers stormed their protest camp overnight, killing at least one person and injuring 71 others.

In the pre-dawn raid, hundreds of soldiers, including a highly trained parachute unit, swarmed into Tahrir Square, firing in the air and beating protesters with clubs and shocking some with electrical batons.

Troops dragged away protesters, while others staggered away bleeding from beatings and gunshot wounds.

Witnesses reported two killed, though the Health Ministry insisted there was only one death.

"It was like a horror movie," said Mohammed Yehia, an activist and university student from the Nile Delta who was among the protesters.

The confrontation escalates weeks of rising tensions between the pro-reform protest movement and the military leaders, a sharp contrast from the scenes two months ago when protesters hugged and kissed soldiers on tanks in Tahrir Square as President Hosni Mubarak was ousted and the military took power.

It could mark a key juncture in Egypt's upheaval. For weeks, protest leaders have been critical of the military council's handling of the post-Mubarak transition and its failure to prosecute the former president, but both sides also worked to stay on good terms.

Now the

overnight clashes resembled the ugliest moments of the 18-day protest movement against Mubarak.

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