Twenty student protesters were injured on Friday outside Al-Azhar University's dormitory in eastern Cairo after security forces used teargas and birdshot to disperse a demonstration against Egypt's army-backed government, according to the student group organizing the protests.
"One demonstrator was shot in the hand and had to have two fingers amputated," Moaz Mohamed, a leading member of the "Students against the Coup" movement, said.
He added that unknown assailants had set fire to a police vehicle parked nearby.
Five other student protesters were arrested, according to the university's acting student union president, Mohamed Atef.
Friday's rallies were part of a "third revolutionary wave" called by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy – ousted president Mohamed Morsi's main support bloc – to call for a boycott of presidential polls slated for May 26-27.
The elections will see former army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who led the army to unseat Morsi last summer, face off against leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi.
Egypt has been dogged by instability since the army unseated Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader, last July following protests against his presidency.
Protesters, many of whom support Morsi and his embattled Muslim Brotherhood group, have staged almost daily rallies ever since to demand the elected leader's reinstatement.
By Yousri Mustafa
englishnews@aa.com.tr
