Apr 25, 2016 2 min read

CAIRO – Police fired tear gas and birdshot Monday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators calling on President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to step down over his government’s decision to surrender control over two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

The violence in Mesaha square in Cairo’s Dokki district took place as thousands of police and soldiers were deployed Monday across the Egyptian capital ahead of the planned demonstrations over the islands, a thorny issue which has already sparked the largest protests since el-Sissi assumed power nearly two years ago.

Following the arrest of dozens of activists and journalists in recent days, riot police backed by armored vehicles Monday took up positions in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt’s 2011 uprising.

They also deployed on the ring road, downtown and at a square where hundreds of Islamist protesters were killed when security forces broke up their sit-in in August 2013.

Many of the protest organizers’ gathering points were sealed off by police, including the doctors’ and journalists’ unions in central Cairo.

Pedestrians near the Press Syndicate were stopped by police, who asked for IDs and about their destination before turning many of them away. Minivans loaded with plainclothes policemen were also deployed in the likely flashpoints.

The sheer number of policemen on the streets and fear of arrest prevented protesters from gathering, forcing them to trickle out from designated gathering points to assemble elsewhere. Fearing another round of unrest after years of turmoil, many city residents and shopkeepers were hostile toward the protesters on Monday.

However, a group of some 500 protesters led by prominent activists managed to gather at the mostly residential Mesaha square. Their chants of “leave, leave” directed at el-Sissi, echoed across the square, along with “bread, freedom, the islands are Egyptian.” Police in full riot gear arrived 10 minutes later and immediately fired tear gas and birshot. The protesters fled and later regrouped in smaller groups at nearby streets.

From their apartments’ balconies, the square’s pro-el-Sissi residents shouted “traitors” at the protesters below and pelted them with water.

Later, plainclothes policemen were seen by the AP reporter kicking and slapping protesters they arrested. The AP reporter also saw truckloads of protesters in police custody.