Security Live Blog

3 days 10 hours ago - Egypt

Campaigning in Egypt has finished ahead of the country's first presidential election since last year's revolution.

There's now a 48-hour political silence before voting begins on Wednesday and the new president will be announced by the end of June.

But, as Rawya Rageh reports from the town of Shubra El Kheima just north of Cairo, crime is rising and has become one of the main election issues.

Tags Cairo, Egypt elections, security

9 weeks 3 days ago - Taiz

File 62491

Yemeni authorities have said they had tightened security around the city of Taiz, a day after an American was shot

dead there in an attack claimed by al-Qaeda.

The senior security commission in Yemen's second city agreed to reinforce policing in the wake of Sunday's attack, according to Saba state news agency.

The measures include a ban on carrying weapons in the city, as well as reducing the time during which motorbikes are allowed to circulate, it said.

For more on Yemen, visit our Spotlight page - Yemen Unrest

Tags Al Qaeda, Saba state news agency, security, US citizen, Yemeni authorities

14 weeks 3 days ago - Damascus

Syria is determined to "restore security" regardless of the latest Arab League initiatives to end bloodshed, a government official said, in a report Monday by SANA state news agency.

"This decision will not prevent the Syrian government from fulfilling its responsibilities in protecting its citizens and restoring security and stability," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

"Syria rejects decisions that are a flagrant interference in the country's internal affairs and a violation of its national sovereignty."

The statement came a day after the Arab League agreed to ask the United Nations to send a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping force to Syria, where activists say more than 6,000 people have died in a crackdown on dissent since March.

Syria's ambassador to Cairo denounced the measures, which only Algeria and Lebanon expressed reservations about.

"The Syrian Arab Republic categorically rejects the decisions of the Arab League," which "reflects the hysteria of these governments" after failing to get foreign intervention at the UN Security Council, said Yusef Ahmed. [AFP]

Tags peacekeeping mission, security, syria

19 weeks 19 hours ago - Syria

The Syrian National Council (SNC) in Amman confirmed to Al Jazeera that Jordanian authorities have banned activists from heading to Syria to deliver aid in fear for "their safety and Jordan's security". Jordan is concerned the activists would be fired on by Syrian security forces once they exit Jordan.

Tags activists, aid, Jordan, security, SNC

26 weeks 2 days ago - Egypt

A screenshot from the CBC television station shows security forces launching tear gas on Mohamed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square:

File 54306

Tags mohamed mahmoud street, security, Tahrir

26 weeks 5 days ago - Egypt

The Associated Press has published its first wrap story on today's violence in Tahrir Square. In it, Ghada Shahbender of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights says she heard a police officer give his troops orders to fire at protesters' heads. Many witnesses today have speculated that there must have been such an order, given the wounds they'e seen. Two men have undergone operations to repair eye wounds from being shot in the face.

From the AP:

Egyptian riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets stormed into Cairo's Tahrir Square Saturday to dismantle a protest tent camp, setting off clashes that injured at least 507 people and raising tensions days before the first elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster.
The scenes of protesters fighting with black-clad police forces were reminiscent of the 18-day uprising that forced an end to Mubarak's rule in February. Hundreds of protesters fought back, hurling stones and setting an armored police vehicle ablaze.

Tags fire, heads, security

26 weeks 5 days ago - Egypt

Despite a lull in the violence after Central Security forces withdrew from Tahrir Square earlier this evening, protesters there are reportedly collecting rocks and preparing for another encounter:

BeltrewBuying pepsi for tear gas remedy. People saying #csf are collecting weapons and will come back to #tahrirSat Nov 19 18:08:48

Tags security, Tahrir

26 weeks 5 days ago - Egypt

Mostafa Sheshtawy describes one among many violent encounters between protesters and Central Security forces today in Tahrir Square:

msheshtawy@aminaIsmail went to a #CSF soldier and told him to stop shooting, he aimed his shotgun at us and FIRED directly at us #Pigs #TahrirSat Nov 19 17:16:08

msheshtawyThank god, amina is fine, and i just got a hit in my leg but a guy with us the rubber bullet got him at his face. #TahrirSat Nov 19 17:20:21

Tags security, Tahrir, violence

26 weeks 5 days ago - Egypt

Several witnesses have reported seeing protesters today suffering from head wounds believed to be caused by police birdshot or rubber bullets. Activists Malek Mostafa has reportedly lost an eye from such a wound, and Ahmed Fatah, a journalist for the local al-Masry al-Youm newspaper, was also reportedly hit in the eye.

Fatah's colleague, journalist Nora Younis, described the injury on Twitter. "Kartoush" refers to a shotgun round of some kind.

NoraYounis@AhmedFatah is @AlMasryAlYoum_A video journalist got shot in the eye by police khartoush while covering on duty #NoSCAF #Pigs #freepressSat Nov 19 16:42:23

Tags head injury, security, Tahrir

26 weeks 5 days ago - Egypt

Today's crackdown on Tahrir Square, which came after dozens of protesters remained overnight after yesterday's enormous rally - the "Friday of One Demand" - seems to have been carried out solely by Central Security Forces (CSF), and not the army.

The army has dispersed protesters from Tahrir with violence several times in the past, but it is typically the CSF who make heavy use of tear gas, birdshot pellets and rubber bullets.

@Beltrew, a freelance journalist in Egypt, notes the presence of CSF:

BeltrewInteresting-1st time just #csf working by themselves no army.The police who posed 4me this morning,giggling,have cleared #tahrir w/violenceSat Nov 19 16:09:51

Tags army, security, Tahrir