Police forces dispersed a minor protest by the anti-government group Ultras Nahdawy Saturday night, according to eyewitnesses.
Members of the group gathered near Abdel Moneim Riad Square, in the vicinity of Tahrir Square, and staged a sudden protest, setting off fireworks and raising anti-government banners.
The group posted pictures of the protests on their social media pages, where un-masked men fired fireworks. They vowed more protests, as a part of “a new wave of mobilisation”.
Police forces stationed near the Egyptian Museum chased off the protesters into side streets, ending the demonstration. No arrests or injuries were reported.
The Interior Ministry has yet to release a statement detailing the incident, and has so far not commented on it.
Protests taking place without an official permit from the police are currently not allowed in Egypt, and riot police are authorised to disperse them.
Ahead of the second anniversary of 30 June, the mass protests that resulted in the ouster of Islamist former president Mohamed Morsi, a number of anti-government revolutionary groups announce plans to organise mass protests to defy what they call “oppressive rule”.
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, who have been actively participating in protests, raised a banner with the words “We Will Continue”.
The name Ultras Nahdawy refers to Al-Nahda Square, where thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters staged a sit-in in July 2013. The sit-in was dispersed a month later, leaving a disputed number of deaths and injuries.
The group adopts a revolutionary rhetoric interspersed with Islamist tendencies, often citing heroic “Islamic” figures, who are said to have fought for the “glory of Islam”.
The formation of groups similar to the Ultras Nahdawy has been on the rise since the dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square sit-ins.
Sudden protests are a technique used by anti-government groups in universities and streets.
Supporters of former president Morsi have been staging weekly protests every Friday since his ouster in July 2013. However, the majority of these protests are restricted to remote villages and working-class neighbourhoods, where security forces experience problems patrolling their streets.
This has most recently occurred in the Matariya neighbourhood of Cairo. Every Friday, demonstrations gain momentum after the weekly sermon in mosques on side streets. Different demonstrations afterwards meet at main streets or squares, often clashing with riot police.
On 16 June, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Morsi and five others to death, on charges of participating in storming Egyptian prisons, attacking police facilities, and killing security personnel during the 25 January Revolution.
Following the verdict, the Anti-Coup Alliance, the largest pro-Morsi opposition bloc formed after Morsi’s ouster on 3 July 2013, called for to demonstrations to protest the sentences. Last Friday, a student was killed during clashes between security forces and protesters.
In a recent development, as the academic year approaches an end, student protests have been witnessing a decline, with student movements such as Students against the Coup (SAC) vowing new waves of demonstrations.
The movement, which has been subjected to a major crackdown by the Egyptian government, has been rallying all semester, demanding the release of their arrested members and “kidnapped colleagues”.
The group said that security forces have been waging a campaign against its members; however the Interior Ministry repeatedly asserted that no group of individuals are targeted unless legal permission is acquired.
More cases are emerging of individuals believed abducted by security forces in a wave of disappearances since the beginning of June, as reports by activists and family members are published online.
