Egyptian police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president protesting at the dormitories of an Islamic university in Cairo.
Students at Al-Azhar University hurled rocks at the police and tried to block traffic on a major thoroughfare outside the campus in eastern Cairo, a security official said yesterday.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to reporters.
Student Spokesman Mahmoud Salah said the police later left the area, and protesters who had taken cover inside the dorm went out to continue their protest.
Salah said the students had lit a fire at the dorm gates to lessen the impact of tear gas fired by the police. He also said a number of students were injured and claimed the police fired shotgun pellets.
The security agencies always deny using them.
With the start of the school year in September, Egypt's universities have become the main venue for protests by supporters of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, ousted in a popularly backed military coup in July.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamist group and the one from which Morsi hails, has organised protests, with marches on campuses nearly every day. Many of them have led to clashes with security forces.
But Al-Azhar University, with largely Islamist students, has seen persistent protests against Egypt's military-backed government.
Last month, 12 students from the same university were sentenced to 17 years and fined for participating in protests and clashes on the campus. Another 21 students from Al-Azhar were yesterday referred to trial.
Salah said yesterday's protests were fuelled by the new referral, as well as a crackdown earlier in the day by university security against female protesters.
Students also protested yesterday at a university in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, and at Cairo University.
In Mansoura, the students set a police car on fire, another security official said. He too was speaking on condition of anonymity.
Authorities have cracked down on Morsi supporters since last summer's coup, widening a net of arrests and legal prosecution to include senior leaders as well as students and protesters.
The crackdown has recently broadened to include other non-Islamist critics of the current authorities, and a new protest law was passed last month that tightly restricts public gatherings and increases penalties for violators.
The trial of three prominent non-Islamist activists referred to court in accordance with the new law on charges of taking part in an illegal protest and assaulting policemen began yesterday.
