Egyptians continue to hold demonstrations against the upcoming presidential election.
Protesters gathered in several towns and cities across the country on Friday to also denounce the presidential candidacy of former head of the armed forces, Abdul Fattah el-Sisi.
Sisi headed a coup that led to the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, last July.
Demonstrations on Friday were also held in solidarity with student protests held in Egyptian universities.
The student protesters say authorities should release political prisoners, who they say are being held unlawfully.
On Friday, police attacked anti-government protesters in the capital, Cairo, and the city of Suez.
Police backed by army units also attacked students protesting at the al-Azhar University in Cairo.
According to human rights groups, over a dozen students have been killed in violent clashes since September 2013.
Sisi will be running against leftist candidate, Hamdeen Sabahi, in the presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on May 26-27.
Egypt has been experiencing unrest and hundreds of people have lost their lives since Morsi was ousted.
The Egyptian military-backed government has cracked down on supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Thousands of Brotherhood members have been arrested.
Several international rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Council have expressed concern over the Egyptian security forces’ heavy-handed crackdown and the killing of peaceful anti-government protesters.
