There have been running battles near Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square between pro-democracy protesters and loyalists of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's embattled president.
Witnesses said that gunshots had rang out near the square, the epicentre of protests against Mubarak for the past 10 days.
An Al Jazeera correspondent, reporting from the scene, said it was not clear who was behind the firing.
There have been sporadic clashes throughout Thursday, as the army fanned out to separate the two sides and allowed thousands more protesters to enter their camp in the square.
There have been sporadic clashes throughout Thursday, as the army fanned out to separate the two sides and allowed thousands more protesters to enter their camp in the square.
Al Jazeera's online producer in Cairo said: "The battle for downtown Cairo on Thursday has taken on an almost medieval quality, with protesters erecting makeshift barricades and building homemade catapults to launch rocks at each other.
"Close-range combat ensued for several hours, with hand-to-hand combat near the barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters. Both sides threw hundreds of rocks back and forth."
Pro-democracy protesters gradually pushed back Mubarak loyalists who had swarmed onto a nearby highway overpass where they had been pelting their rivals with objects.
Our producer said: "The pro-democracy group began a slow advance onto the bridge, which had earlier been cleared of pro-Mubarak forces by an army tank.
"The pro-democracy crowd briefly lost its high ground ... but they regrouped, and their counterattack eventually pushed the pro-Mubarak group down to the Corniche, where they are now slowly retreating past the state television building.
"The contrast between both sides' tactics is striking: The pro-democracy protesters have organised themselves, building walls and seizing strategic locations; the pro-Mubarak crowd has mostly advanced in a mob, hurling rocks, then retreating under return fire."
PM apologises
A day earlier, Tahrir Square had witnessed fierce clashes, after Mubarak loyalists - some of them riding camels and horses - attacked the pro-democracy protesters.
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Ahmed Shafiq, the Egyptian prime minister, made an unprecedented apology on Thursday for Wednesday's assault that turned central Cairo into a battle zone.
"Egyptian hearts are bleeding," he said of the clashes in which at least 13 people were killed and hundreds hurt.
Shafiq said the attack on the anti-Mubarak protesters was a "blatant mistake" acknowledging that it was likely organised and promised to investigate who was behind it.
The pro-democracy protesters accuse the regime of organising the assault, using paid thugs and policemen in civilian clothes, in an attempt to crush their movement.
Egypt's state news agency has reported that the prosecutor-general has banned travel and frozen the bank accounts of three former ministers of the government that was sacked over the weekend, including the interior minister who was responsible for police.
The prosecutor-general said he ordered the same restrictions against a senior ruling party official until security is restored in the country.
Shafiq said the attack on the anti-Mubarak protesters was a "blatant mistake" acknowledging that it was likely organised and promised to investigate who was behind it.
The pro-democracy protesters accuse the regime of organising the assault, using paid thugs and policemen in civilian clothes, in an attempt to crush their movement.
Egypt's state news agency has reported that the prosecutor-general has banned travel and frozen the bank accounts of three former ministers of the government that was sacked over the weekend, including the interior minister who was responsible for police.
The prosecutor-general said he ordered the same restrictions against a senior ruling party official until security is restored in the country.
Journalists targeted
On Thursday, mobile operator Vodafone complained about the use of the network by Egyptian authorities to send messages to the people of Egypt.
| Map: Demonstrations in the heart of Cairo |
In a statement, Vodafone said: "These messages are not scripted by any of the mobile network operators and we do not have the ability to respond to the authorities on their content.
"Vodafone Group has protested to the authorities that the current situation regarding these messages is unacceptable.
"We have made clear that all messages should be transparent and clearly attributable to the originator."
Foreign photographers reported a string of attacks on them by Mubarak supporters on Thursday near Tahrir Square.
The Egyptian army rounded up several journalists after they came under attack from supporters of Mubarak.
"There is a concerted campaign to intimidate international journalists in Cairo and interfere with their reporting. We condemn such actions," PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, said in a statement issued via Twitter on Thursday.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday that violence against journalists was part of a series of deliberate attacks and called on the Egyptian military to provide protection for reporters.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday that violence against journalists was part of a series of deliberate attacks and called on the Egyptian military to provide protection for reporters.
Shahira Amin, a senior journalist at Nile Television, a government-owned network, walked out on Wednesday in anger that state TV was not broadcasting enough of the protests and clashes in the square.
Saksi mengatakan bahwa tembakan sudah terdengar di dekat alun-alun, pusat protes terhadap Mubarak selama 10 hari terakhir.
Seorang koresponden Al Jazeera, melaporkan dari tempat kejadian, mengatakan tidak jelas siapa yang berada di balik penembakan itu.
Ada bentrokan sporadis di seluruh Kamis, sebagai tentara menyebar keluar untuk memisahkan dua sisi dan membiarkan ribuan demonstran lebih untuk masuk kamp mereka di alun-alun.
produser online Al Jazeera di Kairo mengatakan: "Pertempuran pusat kota Kairo pada hari Kamis telah diambil pada kualitas hampir abad pertengahan, dengan pengunjuk rasa mendirikan barikade darurat dan bangunan ketapel buatan sendiri untuk memulai batu satu sama lain.
"Close-range tempur pun terjadi selama beberapa jam, dengan pertempuran tangan ke tangan di dekat barikade didirikan oleh demonstran pro-demokrasi Kedua belah pihak melemparkan ratusan batu kembali dan sebagainya.."
demonstran pro-demokrasi secara bertahap mendorong kembali setia Mubarak yang telah menyerbu ke jembatan jalan raya terdekat di mana mereka telah melempari lawan mereka dengan benda-benda.
Produser kami berkata: "Kelompok pro-demokrasi mulai muka lambat ke jembatan, yang sebelumnya telah dibersihkan dari kekuatan pro-Mubarak oleh tank tentara.
"Kerumunan pro-demokrasi sebentar kehilangan tanah tinggi ... tapi mereka dikelompokkan, dan balasan mereka pada akhirnya mendorong kelompok pro-Mubarak ke Corniche, di mana mereka sekarang perlahan mundur melewati gedung televisi negara.
"Perbedaan antara taktik kedua belah pihak 'mencolok: Para demonstran pro-demokrasi telah mengorganisir diri, membangun dinding dan menyita lokasi strategis; kerumunan pro-Mubarak telah banyak maju dalam gerombolan, melemparkan batu, lalu mundur di bawah api kembali."
PM meminta maaf
Sehari sebelumnya, Tahrir Square telah menyaksikan pertempuran sengit, setelah setia Mubarak - beberapa dari mereka naik unta dan kuda - menyerang demonstran pro-demokrasi .
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"Hati Mesir adalah pendarahan," katanya tentang bentrokan di mana sedikitnya 13 orang tewas dan ratusan terluka.
Shafiq mengatakan serangan terhadap para demonstran anti-Mubarak adalah "kesalahan terang-terangan" mengakui bahwa ia kemungkinan diselenggarakan dan berjanji untuk menyelidiki yang berada di belakangnya.
Para demonstran pro-demokrasi menuduh rezim pengorganisasian serangan, menggunakan preman dibayar dan polisi dalam pakaian sipil, dalam upaya untuk menghancurkan gerakan mereka.
kantor berita Mesir melaporkan bahwa-jaksa umum telah melarang perjalanan dan dibekukan rekening bank tiga mantan menteri pemerintah yang dipecat selama akhir pekan, termasuk menteri dalam negeri yang bertanggung jawab untuk polisi.
The-jaksa penuntut umum mengatakan ia memerintahkan pembatasan yang sama terhadap seorang pejabat senior partai berkuasa sampai keamanan dipulihkan di negara itu.
Jurnalis ditargetkan
Pada hari Kamis, Vodafone operator seluler mengeluhkan tentang penggunaan jaringan oleh otoritas Mesir untuk mengirim pesan ke orang-orang Mesir.
| Peta: Demonstrasi di jantung Kairo |
"Vodafone Group telah memprotes kepada pihak berwenang bahwa situasi saat ini tentang pesan-pesan ini tidak dapat diterima.
"Kami telah membuat jelas bahwa semua pesan harus transparan dan jelas terkait dengan originator."
fotografer asing melaporkan serangkaian serangan terhadap mereka oleh pendukung Mubarak pada hari Kamis di dekat Tahrir Square.
Tentara Mesir dibulatkan beberapa wartawan setelah mereka diserang dari pendukung Mubarak.
"Ada kampanye bersama untuk mengintimidasi wartawan internasional di Kairo dan mengganggu dengan pelaporan mereka. Kami mengutuk tindakan tersebut," kata PJ Crowley, negara bagian AS jurubicara departemen, dalam sebuah pernyataan yang dikeluarkan melalui Twitter pada hari Kamis.
Komite berbasis di New York untuk Melindungi Jurnalis mengatakan pada hari Rabu bahwa kekerasan terhadap wartawan merupakan bagian dari serangkaian serangan yang disengaja dan menyerukan kepada militer Mesir untuk memberikan perlindungan bagi wartawan.
Shahira Amin, seorang jurnalis senior di Nil televisi, jaringan milik pemerintah, berjalan keluar pada hari Rabu dalam kemarahan yang televisi pemerintah tidak cukup penyiaran protes dan bentrokan di alun-alun.
