Student Protests Mark First Day of Term

Protests broke out today in Cairo University, Ain Shams University and Al-Azhar University, on the first day of term in universities throughout Cairo.

Members of the security company hired to secure the universities, Falcon Company, were kicked out of the university by protesting students, after failing to prevent the protests from kicking off.

Security forces intervened in Cairo University, resulting in clashes and the arrest of several students.

Several people tweeted earlier today that security forces had cordoned off the roads around Cairo University and were making random arrests.

The protesting students were responding to calls from the pro-Muslim Brotherhood National Alliance to Support Legitimacy and the affiliated Students Against the Coup movement.

According to reports on social media, approximately 50 students were arrested at dawn today in their homes ahead of the protests, though this has not been confirmed by local news outlets.

Universities were fraught with protests and clashes throughout the last academic year, and resulted in the arrest of thousands of students all year, as well as several deaths.